Help a new climber out... Visualizing tree aesthetics

M

mowingarkansas

Location
Arkansas
I'm not necessarily new, I've been climbing for years, but limited off and on experience. So I've read plenty of pruning books. I seem to pick up quite a few jobs where homeowners are looking for a certain aesthetic look out of their trees in many circumstances. When I'm on the ground, I can easily visualize what needs to be done, how the tree needs to look, and what needs to be cut. The problem is, when I get in the tree, I lose my vision of all of this. I can't keep a tally of every, each, and individual branch. I don't want to come back down from the canopy to revisualize myself. Is there anyway that you have in mine to mark certain branches from the ground, or is this just wishful thinking? Any other pointers?
 
On pruning big trees (the ones we need to climb) I tend to emphasize tree health, hazards, and function rather than aesthetics. By filling the client's head with expert guidance maybe you can avoid having your work judged by fickle aesthetic considerations. If they insist on aesthetics I usually let them be specify what limbs they want removed and I let them be responsible for the results. I will try to warn a client when the result will be predictably disappointing (excessively shorn, exposed, short-lived, or imperceptible).

I can also imagine approaching tree work like the flamboyant interior designer approaches curtains and throw rugs. Lest their landscaping be censured by those in the know, come at your client with strong judgments of how to keep up with the latest fashions. Whatever you do, always praise the fabulousness of the end result, complimenting the client's progressive aesthetic tastes and commitment to the art.
 
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mowingarkansas said:
I'm not necessarily new, I've been climbing for years, but limited off and on experience. So I've read plenty of pruning books. I seem to pick up quite a few jobs where homeowners are looking for a certain aesthetic look out of their trees in many circumstances. When I'm on the ground, I can easily visualize what needs to be done, how the tree needs to look, and what needs to be cut. The problem is, when I get in the tree, I lose my vision of all of this. I can't keep a tally of every, each, and individual branch. I don't want to come back down from the canopy to revisualize myself. Is there anyway that you have in mine to mark certain branches from the ground, or is this just wishful thinking? Any other pointers?
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Take some photos with your phone from different angles, look at them when you're up in the tree. I have to guard against over-pruning when I'm in the the tree, especially for stuff over houses, it can look more of a problem when you're in the tree then it does from the ground. Biggest problem is dealing with customer's ideas of what should or can be done to a tree vs. biological realities. The other tough one is symmetry, customer wants it like a round hedge, tree is the way it is for a reason. It's often like arguing with a brick wall but ya have to try educating the customer. Level 2 is talk to them about Wabi-Sabi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi
-AJ
 
Something ive done is have a video or video chat with someone on the ground if im at a picky clients house. It all depends on whos house im at as far as it goes. To a customer lions tailing a whole tree looks good. Is it good practice and good for the tree? No way but ive had a few clients basically ask for it. A tree is a living thing that needs proper care. Let the client know that, and they will likeky understand

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And have your scientific answers for the "why" questions and explain just cuz they see that type of pruning everywhere doesnt make it right.
 
"I don't care, I want those lower limbs gone! They're ugly and they are keeping my grass from growing!" Is roughly the same as saying "We really can't have anyone of a different color at this school, so I'm really going to need you to bleach those darker kids. No, I don't care what impact it will have on the rest of their lives."

"Yeah, doc. I got this tweaked (insert body part). Gimmie a full script of hydrocodone, and a few lorazepam to kill the boredom while I'm off work. Don't sass me; do your job."

Aesthetics are literally (literally literally, not figuratively literally) imaginary.
The trees really don't care what they look like. Nothing else does, either. Nothing but us.
 
mowingarkansas said:
I'm not necessarily new, I've been climbing for years, but limited off and on experience. So I've read plenty of pruning books. I seem to pick up quite a few jobs where homeowners are looking for a certain aesthetic look out of their trees in many circumstances. When I'm on the ground, I can easily visualize what needs to be done, how the tree needs to look, and what needs to be cut. The problem is, when I get in the tree, I lose my vision of all of this. I can't keep a tally of every, each, and individual branch. I don't want to come back down from the canopy to revisualize myself. Is there anyway that you have in mine to mark certain branches from the ground, or is this just wishful thinking? Any other pointers?
Click to expand...

Ughhh. Sorry.
I get stuck on that rant pretty often.

I pick distinctive parts of the tree and count major unions or laterals from those landmarks.
Most limbs that are going to be pruned get the final judgement when I can really get my eyes around them. Nice structure, try to keep the more vertical shoots, reduce about the fraction you were going for. Sometimes it doesn't end up as "aesthetic" as you were hoping, but remember that it isn't construction work. You can only do what is possible within the biological limitations of the tree and large changes take time.
 
Dead,Crossing,broken, rubbing branches some sucker growth that's it. Only thing to look at from the ground is where you setting your line. Had a landscape architect argue me up n down because she wanted the trees stripped so you can see the "structure". Do what's right for the tree not for someone who watches HGTV. Educate the customer and if they still insist I just tell them I have extra saddles put one on and come up in the tree
 
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Ya if yoi have a home owner trying to get you to climb their tree to prune it into the look they want, your in for long day. "Can you just get that one more on the other side of the tree? You know,the whispy one with the leaves". Yeah sure that one bub. You gotta change their idea of what they want the tree to look like.

This is how I approach crown pruning when I'm told the homeowner wants it to look nice for me to use my judgement. Like mentioned, I clean off all dead and all crossing amd rubbing wood. By that point the tree is typically looking a bit cleaner and thinner and much of this work can be done on initial ascents.
My next things i look for are the longest limbs and the most dense areas in the canopy. Much of this work will be done on some limb walks.
Looong limbs are pruned to reduce/remove any "fulcrum" or breaking point by either reducing end weight or length.
Dense areas are dealt with by removing redundancies. Explaining that varies from tree to tree. One also has to deal with redundancies by considering the amount of branches growing from a single union.

Prune as many trees as you can and do you best to GO BACK TO THEM YEARS LATER. Nothing will teach you more than seeing how a tree responds to how you pruned it. You see how fast it grows back to the roofline, or how bushy it's response growth was, or how reducing the ends encouraged interior growth and where.
 
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