Thinning As A Standard Pruning Recommendation

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Yeah I know and the lower limbs also increase trunk taper, etc,etc. Again I dislike turf but it needs long period of light. Short bursts of light hrough a thinned canopy for 5- 10 minutes won't allow turf grass to photosynthesise it simply shuts down until it gets prolonged light

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Some might see this as a good thing...

But seriously I agree generally with Daniel, having watched a lot of ground under me brighten up while thinning. A lot has to do with species of turf, too--seeding shade grasses to replace the others is SOP under big trees.

Sohner. I'm not sure that stripping interior growth stimulates end growth. I do know that vice versa happens, for hormonal and plumbing and exposure reasons.
 
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those jerseyites sound like a tough clientele.

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In Bergen County at least. The customers in Morris County tend to be a bit easier to advise. It's not the customers alone but the other Tree co's. Many are small shops without the formal education as seen here. Whatever the client asks for good, bad or, ugly they do.


As for big co's pushing work on customers to meet quotas that is probably more an issue of sales training and how they are compensated. Unfortunately, at the end of the day salespeople are measured by the numbers and compensated in kind. It takes a whole lot of integrity and skill to sell a client on proper services when they may not know (or want to know) what is right. If the sales person is under pressure to deliver the numbers then it's difficult to walk away when the client insists on doing something that is not necessarily the best approach.
 
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In many cases the client and I prefer reduction and thinning above, and preserving the lower tier of branches.



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I agree, the lower branches are the tree's old age pension plan. Do away with them and the tree aint gonna live to old age.
 
I just filmed an Acacia Tree that I crown Thin about every 3 years. The Branches are long and the tree consists of many large branch unions that have included bark. In all the years I have been thinning it, I have never had to make any large reduction cuts nor has the tree lost anything i the storms. Usualy making cuts in the outer 1/5 th of the crown about 3/4 to 2 inches in diameter.
 
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I just filmed an Acacia Tree that I crown Thin about every 3 years. The Branches are long and the tree consists of many large branch unions that have included bark. In all the years I have been thinning it, I have never had to make any large reduction cuts nor has the tree lost anything i the storms. Usualy making cuts in the outer 1/5 th of the crown about 3/4 to 2 inches in diameter.

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Got video of this Jesse?
 
Nora,
My big company perspective is that although 20% crown thin is prescribed automatically by the computer for every pruning job, I don't have the time or desire to deliver on that. If there was extra room on the quote, I would go after structure long before thinning.

I agree that the thinning terminology is somewhat deceptive or misconstrued. Typically trees that are notoriously dense in the interior (Plum, Hawthorne, etc.) would receive density reductions via structural pruning and removal of epicormic growth. How is it sold to the client and prescribed to me? Thin 20%.

It's great to read through these threads as they reassure that I'm on the right trail. Mastering the client expectations/what's good for the tree balance has been a challenge to say the least, and I speculate that there is a magical formula to be discovered someday. Currently the majority of island clients still seem to think a disfigured raised/gutted/topped tree is a sign that work has happened.
Sigh.
 
Ryan raises a good point, and the heart of the problem imo--how do we get computer programs and other rigidified mentalities to write more detail in specifications? That is the magical formula we seek--details like "making cuts in the outer 1/5 th of the crown about 3/4 to 2 inches in diameter." like Jesse says are not so difficult to communicate--that is ANSI spec style, giving location in the crow, and a range of sizes, and the objective(s) being met by this work.
 
There is something called "mirroring" that is used in sales. It's a communication technique that enables you to better communicate with a given person simply by "mirroring" their style. How they speak, the language they use, body language, etc.... Obviously this isn't some sort of mime routine but understanding that people generally prefer to be communicated with in the same manner they do.

What does this have to do with thinning? Lots. It is easier for the salesman to use that term with a client when that is what they are saying than to use other terms that will only alienate the client. An effort can be made to "translate" to enlighten and educate the person but that may not be a possibility. I was impressed with the salesman I met and worked with at Save-a-Tree who did spend time with the client and who showed up on the job to check that the work was being done as he had sold it.

Having been on the sales side of a business in the past I have a great deal of respect for the job they do. It is not easy in the least. While we can be who we are for the most part the Salesperson must be able to adapt to all those crazy clients we see and generate the work we do. Is it done well all the time? No. Can we help make their jobs easier? Yes. Spend some time with them, give them feedback on the jobs so they better understand what's happening.
 
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How do you or the company you work for see thinning as a pruning prescription? Is it routine for you? With or without designated percentages.

I could be wrong as I so often am, but it seems to me - or is it true? - that the large tree companies who operate along tightly managed guidelines and procedures may include thinning percentages (thin 20%, 30% etc etc) as part of regular tree maintenance.

For me this is unusual. We rarely prescribe thinning. We do prescribe structural pruning or corrections which may involve thinning, but we don't often state it as thinning.


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I almost always do structural improvement or remove weaknesses, but thinning seems essential 90% of the time, not so much for the tree, but for other plants beneath it.

And partly so people can see into the tree a bit more, making it feel less oppressive in their yard.

In urban areas, the landscape is first and foremost the person's habitat, and secondly for the tree.
 
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Having been on the sales side of a business in the past I have a great deal of respect for the job they do. It is not easy in the least. While we can be who we are for the most part the Salesperson must be able to adapt to all those crazy clients we see and generate the work we do. Is it done well all the time? No. Can we help make their jobs easier? Yes. Spend some time with them, give them feedback on the jobs so they better understand what's happening.

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This is very true. I sometimes have to do quotes, estimates and consults for my company, which is a small company, and you are right. IT IS NOT AN EASY JOB. I am always happy when a customer or client give my boss positive feedback on a consult. Means a lot.
But I am not on commission and have no special incentives to sell work other than to do a good job at whatever I'm supposed to do that day.
 
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