Colt Tree Service LLC
Serving the Lake of the Ozarks
Proper Pruning
Proper Tree Pruning
Pruning of tree limbs on a regularly scheduled basis will improve tree health, control growth, and enhance fruiting, flowering, and appearance. Step back and look at the tree to be pruned. Try to imagine what it will look like when it is going to be larger, and remember that tree limbs will increase in diameter and lengthen but will not move upward on the trunk as the tree grows. Pruning of trees prior to storms Prune for strength and form. Topping a large tree causes excessive sprouting of weakly attached new branches, and also increases wind resistance br creating denser branching patterns. Excessive lifting creates a condition where trees become top-heavy. Both of these methods of pruning increase the chances of winddamage in the long run. Prune for strength by removing Prune for form by removing Lifting Trees Topping/Excessive Lifting
Homeowners who rush to accept the service of a tree expert are frequently taken advantage of by fly-by-night amateurs with a pickup truck and chainsaw. The result of this is poor quality work, and greater long term costs.
Before Pruning After Pruning
Before Lifting After Lifting
Lifting trees is a common pruning practice where the lower branches of the tree are removed to provide clearance for cars, structures, improving the view to the lake. Over lifting, or excessive thinning of trees is a poor pruning practice, however. This type of pruning causes trees to be top heavy, reduces trunk taper and increases chances of branch breakage. It also disfigures the natural form of the tree.
Choosing a Tree Service/Arborist
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. Topping is not an acceptable pruning technique, and there are better alternatives.
What is topping?
Topping is the indiscriminate cutting back of tree branches to stubs or lateral branches that are not large enough to assume the terminal role. Other names for topping include "heading," "tipping," "hat-racking," and "rounding over."
The most common reason given for topping is to reduce the size of a tree. Often homeowners feel that their trees have become too large for their property. People fear that tall trees may pose a hazard. Topping, however, is not a viable method of height reduction, and certainly does not reduce the hazard. In fact, topping will make a tree more hazardous in the long term.
Alternatives to Topping
There are times when a tree must be reduced in height or spread. Providing clearance for utility lines is an example. There are recommended techniques for doing this. If practical, branches should be removed back to their point of origin. If a branch must be shortened, it should be cut back to a lateral that is large enough to assume the terminal role. A rule of thumb for this is to cut back to a lateral that is at least 1/3 the diameter of the limb being removed.
This method of branch reduction helps to preserve the natural form of the tree. However, if large cuts are involved, the tree may not be able to close over and compartmentalize the wounds. Sometimes the best solution is to remove the tree and replace it with a species that is more appropriate for the site.
