- Location
- Austin, TX
I've been taught not to. The theory being, the tree's branches provide the energy to fuel the recovery process after root loss. I recently was following a thread elsewhere in which a homeowner wanted to know if she could cut out a bunch of surface roots that were bothering her.
Someone replied that, if more than 30% of roots were removed, 30% of branches should be removed also. I said, basically, "that's a myth, don't do it" with the above explanation.
The person who suggested it got huffy, suggested I was throwing around my CA credential to make others' input look insignificant, and backed up his claim with an example of pruning bonsai. He said when you root-prune bonsai, the tree will die if you don't prune the branches because not enough h2o can get to the canopy (canopette?).
Now, I know bonsai is not the same as landscape trees, but does this guy have a point? Have I been getting it wrong all this time? I was pretty sure I'd been taught not to prune in this situation by more than one reliable source, but the analogy seems to make some sense (and we all know th eexperts once taught flush cuts and wound dressings). Please help me get a solid, defensible answer so I can save face or exit graciousl, whichever is more appropriate.
Keith
Someone replied that, if more than 30% of roots were removed, 30% of branches should be removed also. I said, basically, "that's a myth, don't do it" with the above explanation.
The person who suggested it got huffy, suggested I was throwing around my CA credential to make others' input look insignificant, and backed up his claim with an example of pruning bonsai. He said when you root-prune bonsai, the tree will die if you don't prune the branches because not enough h2o can get to the canopy (canopette?).
Now, I know bonsai is not the same as landscape trees, but does this guy have a point? Have I been getting it wrong all this time? I was pretty sure I'd been taught not to prune in this situation by more than one reliable source, but the analogy seems to make some sense (and we all know th eexperts once taught flush cuts and wound dressings). Please help me get a solid, defensible answer so I can save face or exit graciousl, whichever is more appropriate.
Keith
