March is the in-between month — winter's not quite done, spring hasn't started, and your trees are about to wake up. It's the ideal moment to walk the yard and catch problems before active growth begins.
What to look for before bud-break
A pre-spring inspection is about spotting what winter left behind and what disease is waiting to start. Walk each major tree and check for:
- Cracked or hanging limbs from snow and ice load.
- Winter dieback — twigs and branches that have gone brittle and brown.
- Dead branches that are easiest to identify now, before everything else leafs out.
- Signs of disease — cankers, oozing, or fungal growth on the bark and at the base.
Why timing matters
Catching these in early spring gives you options. Dormant-season pruning cuts heal cleanly as the tree wakes up, and removing dead or damaged wood now means the tree pours its spring energy into healthy growth instead of failing limbs. Wait until full leaf-out and the same problems are harder to see and messier to fix.
March is the tree-care equivalent of a spring tune-up: look it over before the busy season starts, not after something breaks.
Not sure what you're looking at?
If something looks off — a branch that didn't make it, a crack you hadn't noticed, bark that looks wrong — that's worth an arborist's eye before the canopy fills in. Book a spring assessment and we'll tell you what's winter damage, what's disease, and what's nothing to worry about across Kitchener-Waterloo.