Structural pruning

[ATH]

Oh...and the tree in the background We get some bad topping around here, but not a lot that bad. Looks like somebody also had a hard go at the green one in the background too. It won't be too hard to raise the bar a little if you get to work on this tree!

PS: Not sure how oak wilt is in your area. We don't have it right in my county, but it is in adjacent counties north and south. We just won't prune oak during the growing season. I did my last oak today - any more that come in will have to wait until October.

Others say "but if we don't somebody else will". I have found quite the opposite to be true. When I explain the situation "even though oak wilt isn't right here, I don't want to get a phone call from you in July asking why that tree we just pruned is dead....and we find out oak wilt is here now!" most people appreciate that and say something like: "the other guy didn't seem concerned...I appreciate that you care. Please put us on the schedule for the fall."

 

[Bart_]

ATH won't your proposed cuts expose adjacent branches to wind risk and be relatively chunky cuts? To me it's a no-win undertaking. just MO. especially if significant tree size reduction is expected by the customer

 

[Matias]

Oh...and the tree in the background We get some bad topping around here, but not a lot that bad. Looks like somebody also had a hard go at the green one in the background too. It won't be too hard to raise the bar a little if you get to work on this tree!

Good GAWD! The hackery that goes down in my area is what has me racing to get licensed and certified. There are whole blocks of mostly topped trees here, and I mean hat racked down to 18" stubs. I used to cry when I saw a new one, but it happens so often I have grown numb inside, out of self preservation instinct

 

[evo]

ATH won't your proposed cuts expose adjacent branches to wind risk and be relatively chunky cuts? To me it's a no-win undertaking. just MO. especially if significant tree size reduction is expected by the customer

Exactly, subordination can be done by strategic thinning. Is there a defect needing mitigation RIGHT now, or are you manipulating growth to avoid the defect from being more of a structural issue in the future? (Rhetorical)

 

[ATH]

ATH won't your proposed cuts expose adjacent branches to wind risk and be relatively chunky cuts? To me it's a no-win undertaking. just MO. especially if significant tree size reduction is expected by the customer

I don't think I'm looking at taking out enough to dramatically change wind impact through the tree/on remaining interior branches...but maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're asking?

Reducing the "outlier" branches will reduce twisting wind loads on the whole tree...but I suspect that is pretty minimal here to start with.

As for chunky cuts, most are on secondary or tertiary branches - very few branches back to the trunk except those previously topped lowest branches. Because the tree has been neglected there aren't a lot of options. I think this one can still be brought around with a few pruning cycles . What's the alternative - leave it to fall apart?

 

[Treezybreez]

Good GAWD! The hackery that goes down in my area is what has me racing to get licensed and certified. There are whole blocks of mostly topped trees here, and I mean hat racked down to 18" stubs. I used to cry when I saw a new one, but it happens so often I have grown numb inside, out of self preservation instinct

Do you ever feel the restoration pruning welling up inside of you? Like a mosquito in a nudist colony,… So much to do.

 

[Matias]

Do you ever feel the restoration pruning welling up inside of you? Like a mosquito in a nudist colony,… So much to do.

As soon as I get my CA, I plan to go knocking on all their doors to see who wants to get on the schedule.

 

[Treezybreez]

I had a couple of Princeton Elms to prune recently. They were complete garbage. I’m talking Co-domception. Everywhere I looked there was a problem. I wasn’t able to correct everything, but the trees look halfway decent from across the lawn.

 

[oceans]

On the way back to the spade job this morning, I was thinking about trees I may have helped along from a young age into something with the potential for greatness. Then I got excited knowing I was about to pass by a tree farm I used to live at and the sugar maple I bought in Vermont just over ten years ago. I stopped in the middle of the road for a quiet, misty morning photog.

It was in a pot, maybe 5’~6’ tall and thin as my thumb. I gave it a good root inspection and put it in the ground. Over the following two years it got a couple three felco snips each Fall and wasn’t touched since then. It’s time to thin out a few lower leads now to reduce congestion down low, but man is it gorgeous to my eyes!

 

[oceans]

Then we moved 4 more Oak trees out of the rock dump and into the pasture for future shade for the animals. “Rockin out” all day long!

 

[ATH]

Is that like an 8" caliper oak? Looks pretty big...

 

[oceans]

Is that like an 8" caliper oak? Looks pretty big...

Perhaps down at the root flare but this was no more than 5” DBH I reckon.

It was interesting to see the various trunk diameters throughout the rock dump grove. I would call it an even-aged stand with very consistent heights. The crowns that had more light corresponded with lower diameter for sure.

I can’t wait for a couple more years when I can climb them for some STRUCTURAL PRUNING!! They shouldn’t need much as they look pretty good already.

 

[Bart_]

Can you say central leader Gilman style trees

 

[ATH]

I’m not sure what to do with this tree that homeowner says is an Oak. The existing structure isn’t Oak like. Is this a case of doing the Gillman pruning. Going out each branch and pruning the larger limb? Homeowner wants it reduced and not hacked like the one in the picture background. It has long branches and I’m going to rent a lift if I do it. Any guesses how long it will take? I really haven’t done an overall pruning like this but, willing to give it a go. Advice?

Was printing some pruning guides for a group I am teaching tomorrow...this one (from Gilman) is using an example pretty close to the oak you posted @ClimbingTN ... on page 2:

https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/documents/structural.pdf

 

[ClimbingTN]

Homeowner decided to have it hacked. I’ll take a photo the next time I’m in that neighborhood.

 

[oceans]

Today I got started on a pruning job of about 50 trees. There are 30 Tillia and 20 Acer. This is the fist cycle of the Tillia and second of the Acers, which I first touched 2 years ago or so. I’m beginning with the Lindens in hopes the weather won’t encourage sap drip by the time I get to the Maples. My opinion is the Lindens were left a touch to long before the initial pruning, but so be it. My goal is to focus on angles of attachment and spacing. The crowding down low will be reduced in time, so those planned for future removal were simply subordinated for now. I also have to keep structure over the roadway high enough for the future intended closed arch effect. Lots of considerations right now! Here’s a before and after…

Before:


After:

 

[ClimbingTN]

Today I got started on a pruning job of about 50 trees. There are 30 Tillia and 20 Acer. This is the fist cycle of the Tillia and second of the Acers, which I first touched 2 years ago or so. I’m beginning with the Lindens in hopes the weather won’t encourage sap drip by the time I get to the Maples. My opinion is the Lindens were left a touch to long before the initial pruning, but so be it. My goal is to focus on angles of attachment and spacing. The crowding down low will be reduced in time, so those planned for future removal were simply subordinated for now. I also have to keep structure over the roadway high enough for the future intended closed arch effect. Lots of considerations right now! Here’s a before and after…

Before:
View attachment 98167

After:
View attachment 98168

Just curious about your choice of leader? Was it because the center branch was poorly attached or why?

 

[oceans]

Just curious about your choice of leader? Was it because the center branch was poorly attached or why?

There were 3 up there and I didn’t want to cut out 2, so I took the middle which was weaker than the one remaining on the left, and I can play with suppressing the one on the right. Over time, I don’t think the slight offset in that area will be of much consequence. These trees don’t really leave many clear choices. I’m really going to have to follow up a few more times to get them proper.

 

[ATH]

There were 3 up there and I didn’t want to cut out 2, so I took the middle which was weaker than the one remaining on the left, and I can play with suppressing the one on the right. Over time, I don’t think the slight offset in that area will be of much consequence. These trees don’t really leave many clear choices. I’m really going to have to follow up a few more times to get them proper.

Why didn't you want to take 2?

Not saying you were wrong...like you said often there aren't clear choices. We can all learn from each others thought processes!

 

[oceans]

Why didn't you want to take 2?

Not saying you were wrong...like you said often there aren't clear choices. We can all learn from each others thought processes!

Mostly, I didn’t want a big wound knob right there and though it’s hard to tell from the angle, the middle of the 3 wasn’t really any more central than the other 2. It’s sort of like the palm of a hand up there. Also, most all the laterals coming off the one I removed were super acute in attachment and I think you can see it by zooming in on the “before” photo. The ones that remain just had better options for the future.