Caring for Your Trees
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Pruning |
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When is the best time to prune my trees? |
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Deadwood removal can be done at any time. It is, after all, dead. If you're talking about removing green wood, however, the answer is really "when you need it". If the wood is live and healthy, the tree probably doesn't need it to be removed unless the limb in question is presenting structural problems for the tree. You, however, may need pruning done for a myriad of reasons ranging from aesthetic preferences to safety issues. Deferred maintenance on your trees can create big problems. Routine maintenance can be done at any time of the year, with little impact on the health of your tree. If you have a choice, however, we recommend having it done in winter, before your trees put on their flush of new spring growth. |
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Why aren't all the cuts sealed? |
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Research has shown that painting cuts on trees may inhibit the healing process of the tree, and rarely serves to prevent decay, infections, or infestations. Just Trees only paints cuts on those varieties of oak that are susceptible to oak wilt, and then only during the times of year when the insects that might transmit it are active, or in known oak wilt zones. |
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Why shouldn't I "top" my trees? |
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There are numerous reasons why this is just plain bad.
The Texas chapter of the International society of Arboriculture says the following: "Topping is perhaps
the most harmful tree pruning practice known. Yet despite more than 25 years of literature and seminars explaining
its harmful effects, topping remains a common practice." Please visit the ISA website for more comprehensive
information on topping. The web address is www.trees-isa.org. Here's
another website with some helpful illustrations:
http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/forestry/Urban/Treetopping.htm
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What is a proper pruning cut? (or, anything you ever wanted to know about branch collars) |
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When pruning green wood, and particularly when pruning a mature limb,
proper pruning involves pruning in such a way as to encourage, rather than inhibit, the healing of the resultant wound.
Like most living organisms, a tree has its own defense mechanisms. One of these is the process of compartmentalization.
A tree will attempt to isolate and seal off (through some complicated biological procedures that we need not go into
here) any wound - whether the wound itself is the result of a pruning cut, fungal infection, or woodpecker damage - in order
to try and prevent the damage from impacting the rest of the tree. In the case of pruning cuts, the most important thing
we can do to help the tree succeed is to make our pruning cuts with the tree's biology in mind. A proper cut should be
made just outside the branch collar - not flush with the trunk. The first line of defense between a limb and the
trunk of a tree is the branch collar. The success of the tree in healing from the removal of a limb will depend largely
on activities taking place in the branch collar. If we cut into the branch collar, we inhibit the tree's ability to wall off
the injury and heal properly.
When pruning away a dead limb, it is important to follow the same
rule. Often, as in the picture above, it is easier to see where the branch collar begins if it has already begun to
"wall off" a dead limb. For a bit more information, see:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/pruning/pruning.html
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