Good pruning information

[joe]

Dr. Gilman helped author some really good pruning information through the Urban Tree Foundation. I find the pruning concepts presented through this site, which are followed up by real life examples, helpful to justify my philosophy behind live branch removal when pruning trees. Experienced people, like those who frequent this webboard, know how to use this information best. This is really good stuff-check it out.

http://www.urbantree.org/index.shtml

Joe

 

[guymayor]

Good for street trees, maybe.

"Trees that grow to be large are more structurally sound and cost-effective to maintain when trained with a central dominant leader that extends 30 feet or more into the crown"

It would be helpful to define "large". Some Acer, most Prunus, many other 40'+ species like nyssa, junipus are not prone to single leader form, and forcing gets real ugly fast.

"Reduction cuts shorten stems back to lateral branches that are at least one-third the diameter of the cut stems."

This is my favorite. What if three laterals that => one-half dia. total are together at one node, with strong and independent attachments? Why is it considered so important to have just one dominant--our forestry heritage?

Codominance seems to get confused with included bark and dueling tips, but many multi-branches have stable forks and forms. The attached has way too many now, but sprouting is slowing down, so it can get thinned more next time.

3 total will be permanent, by the looks of it, with no included bark. What's wrong with that picture?