A neighborhood that i pretty much own still has some landscapers/tree guys. they get in there and lion tail every tree. one property has been done this way for a long time. the owner had me look at the (water sprout covered stem) oaks he wants me to prune them. I advised him that the trees need some of the water sprouts left on to help out in energy absorbtion. I know that if left on water sprouts will become large weekly attatched limbs. the trees are roughly 60 ft and 12 to 16 inches in diameter. what are your suggestions? Tony
LionTailed Oaks
- Thread starter Fatcord
- Start date
- Location
- MKE, WI
You are on the right track, I treat these as crown restorations where we do a little tip thinning and thing the sprouts on the way back. Weakly attached is a relative thing, if they are what you have to work with, then thin out the worst 1/3, or less, to allow the best ones to become true branches. I do it on the way back, because I always break some working out and back, best to do it as you clean your way down.
10-15 years from now they will have stronger attachments to the tree, still weaker then a bud with conjoined pith, but very easy to manage.
10-15 years from now they will have stronger attachments to the tree, still weaker then a bud with conjoined pith, but very easy to manage.
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
Don't buy into the notion that all sprouts are weakly attached. Compared to a proper branch they are...but...its what we have to work with.
With some careful thinning you can nurture some of the better sprouts back into being interior branches. In time, the layers of new growth will make sturdy and strong branch collars.
When the notion of weak attachments is used I ask...Define weak? Take a proper branch growing from a bud in the same aspect. Are they attached any better? Not by much.
I tell clients that the leaves are food factories. the tree has taken money/starch out of the savings account to buy/grow new food factories where they were destroyed/cut off by tree cutters who did not understand tree physiology.
With some careful thinning you can nurture some of the better sprouts back into being interior branches. In time, the layers of new growth will make sturdy and strong branch collars.
When the notion of weak attachments is used I ask...Define weak? Take a proper branch growing from a bud in the same aspect. Are they attached any better? Not by much.
I tell clients that the leaves are food factories. the tree has taken money/starch out of the savings account to buy/grow new food factories where they were destroyed/cut off by tree cutters who did not understand tree physiology.
Much thanks to you guys. Good Info. I would like to catch some so called "tree guy" toping or lion tailing a tree. I would ask them "why are you doing that and what purpose does it have and does it benefit the tree? I hate it when I see some tree guy in my neighborhood (i have to go see where he is going.) I had a very nice couple approach me about their red oak. Their lawn guy had instructed them, that the red oak needs to be topped. Of course I told them their lawn guy was full of it. The property owner told me how the same guy cut the roots off of another tree in their backyard so that he wouldnt hit them with his mower. Of course it died, it was a very tall post oak. They still havent fired him.
- Location
- central texas
Lion tailing has become the new topping. It has been rampant here in central TX for decades and is getting WORSE. It goes by a variety of names, and is actually sold as a desirable form of pruning by some morons. They call it "tree sculpting", or at least they did, until I started pointing out how uneducated it was in regular talks in public forums. Now I don't see it advertised so much anymore, but the practice itself sure continues.
I think by and large our industry has done a very good job of getting the "don't top trees" message out to the public - we have around here anyway. I think we now need to petition ISA and TCIA to get a "don't strip trees" out to the public.
Anyone got any good mottos? "Strippers are bad for trees"???
I think by and large our industry has done a very good job of getting the "don't top trees" message out to the public - we have around here anyway. I think we now need to petition ISA and TCIA to get a "don't strip trees" out to the public.
Anyone got any good mottos? "Strippers are bad for trees"???
