Labour Day marks the end of pruning ban on elm trees in Sask.

The Labour Day long weekend means residents can trim their elm trees again.

The provincial pruning ban ended Thursday.

The measure is intended to help curb the spread of Dutch elm disease (DED), which threatens one in every four trees in Saskatoon.

According to the province, pruning trees before or after the ban period can help keep them healthy and resistant to disease. Elm bark beetles breed inside dead or dying elm wood, so pruning before or after the ban can help eliminate their habitat and reduce the beetle populations.

Saskatoon has had a few recent scares with the tree-killing disease.

A case discovered in the Forest Grove neighbourhood in August resulted in the removal of 31 trees along Central Avenue.

In early July, the city removed several trees in the Pleasant Hill and Sutherland neighbourhoods following other confirmed cases of the disease.

DED was introduced in North America in the 1930s and has since wiped out millions of elms across Canada and the United States.