Some opinions or thoughts if you don't mind.

monkeylove

monkeylove

Been here much more than a while
Location
Roslyn, Pa.
So my brother bought a house and is trying to get more sun in the back yard to help it dry out. Over the last 2 years we've done a lot of ground work and removed a bunch of pines trees. He had me over yesterday to talk about thinning out or pruning the tree he plans on keeping. My thought are:

Remove dead stuff and cleanup old cuts (not mine)
Trim back some of the limbs that are intertwined and fighting for space
Remove a few limbs from the trunks that are close to each other and are fighting for canopy space

It's a mature tree so I am thinking that no more than about 5% reduction this year, I've explained to him that this will be a start and that you just can't remove 30% of a tree in one year. I've also mentioned that at some point the 3 trucks will need some cabling.

Pics;
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Nice monkeylove. Looks like you're getting a little more comfortable with climbing. :) Are those Acer rubrum? Personally I think you could thin a little bit more each year. I'd definitely stay shy of the 30% mark, maybe even closer to 20%, but I think you could create some more space in the interior of the crown.
 
Thanks TL. I'm getting slowly better and more comfortable. It won't help on this tree this year (needs to be done soon before the buds grow to much) but hopefully the SRT class with Donney in June will boost my comfort and skill level. I suck at tree id but I believe that is a Maple.
 
Reduce and thin up to 30% based on health. Strong vigorous growth. Reduce tips more than thin no point in in getting taller and reaching further towards failure to the house side any ways
 
Thanks RS, it seems to have plenty of life and growth judging by the leaves he picks up in the fall and the buds I see growing this year. I figure once I get into the tree I can take a better look at the health in the canopy.
 
Evapotranspiration. Think about how much water is being taken up by this tree and the others. As you remove canopy to increase sun exposure are you really solving the water problem or increasing it? I tend to be conservative with mature trees when it comes to removing canopy. The more leaf surface then the more ET. I'd be looking at other solutions too. What about planting other water loving species?
 
I would go for a 3 year plan with the ultimate goal being 30% live wood removal from the canopy. It is a red maple and a pretty vigorous one at that, so 10% per year shouldn't cause too much advantitious growth between prunings. I would start RS's reduction in the second pruning cycle. Take the biggest objectionable branches in the first cycle. Then more thin than reduce in second and more reduce than thin in the third. Also definitely consider brace and cable in third cycle. Sure wish I could be in state college in June!
 
Thanks TH, I've been helping him regrade the back and also putting in some french drains and sump pumps to help empty the yard after it rains. The whole backyard literally had about 3" of standing water after a rain. We have gotten that down to about a 1/2" that clears in a few hours but it still takes days to dry enough that it is not squishy.

Thanks Oakman, I need to mount my camera better but I am hoping to video it. I thought my camera would stick with hd velcro but that proved incorrect about 10ft off the ground.
 
Thanks Guy, I don't have a full pic at the moment. I will mention to him about planting some young pines. He had me take down the 8 large ones he had back there last year. Between those pines and this maple the ground only saw about an hour on sun per day. I tried to convince him to only remove a few and not make rash decisions but you all have family so I will leave it at that, lol.
 
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