ADVERTORIAL: Advertisement: More tall trees

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend. I left you with a brief understanding of why trees get tall and why it’s OK for them to be that way. This article will cover a couple of scenarios where it may be appropriate to reduce the height of your tree and how the tree may respond if we do so.

So, when should we reduce a tree? There are a few good reasons to reduce the height and/or size of your tree. The best and most common reason is when the tree has too much height creating excess leverage on the trunk, which creates the potential for trunk or branch failure. Secondly, we can prune when a tree inhibits a view. If you have paid for your property that has a view as well as trees for beauty and screening, it’s sometimes wise to simply remove a portion of the top to preserve your view instead of removing the entire tree. The last reason I will list is pruning a tree for fruit production to increase quality and accessibility of the fruit. Doing this effectively reduces the height of the fruit tree.

When performing these types of pruning, we can use a couple of different cuts that will elicit different reactions from the trees. Reduction cuts, also known as drop-crotch pruning, shortens a limb or stem by removing a portion of that stem back to a lateral branch. The general rule of thumb is that the lateral branch you are cutting back to be at least one third the size of the stem that remains. Doing this will help to sustain the proper growth of that stem. This type of pruning is what we strive for, but is not always attainable depending on how much height we are removing.

A heading cut does the same thing as a reduction cut, except you are cutting back to a lateral branch that is smaller than one third the diameter of the remaining stem, or possibly mid branch where there is no lateral at all. This type of cut promotes excess sucker growth from around that cut, and introduces decay into that area. As the suckers mature and increase in size, they are at a higher risk of failure due to the decay that was introduced at the attachment point of those suckers. When heading cuts are made, a management plan needs to be discussed on how and when to deal with the sucker growth.

If you have a tree that you feel is too tall that fit into the reasons I have mentioned, I would encourage you to have a certified arborist out to discuss the reasons why and form a management plan to help you achieve your desired outcome.

As always, for further questions, quotes or consultations, give us a call today, 208-762-5800!

For more information on Grace Tree Service, check out our website at gracetreeservice.com.