Pruning Mistakes

An important subject to talk about. When a worker doesn't understand why they are pruning.

[bluebirdbutterfly]

It would be helpful, to those who don't know what you do, for you to write a small book. You're so informative. Thank you for sharing

[shumezhurme]

Another excellent video Glenn. I love that you always show the damage on a real tree.

We've had a couple of arborists come and visit our property and I don't think there has been a single tree they didn't recommend pruning:
Thin the crown. Better air circulation. Reduce wind sail. Improve clearance. Or my favorite: Cut any limbs that point downward.

Our trees are healthy and clearance is not really an issue. I personally prefer to let nature be nature and only remove dead branches. With pollution, warmer weather, and the increase in invasive pests, these trees are already under enough stress that they don't need anyone hacking at them for no good reason.

[nettles]

Midwesterner here, and pin oak is one of my favorite species. They don't always conform to the ideal structure with one central leader, but when they do, and when they're not butchered, they are gorgeous. I've noticed they tend to harbor various defects and pathogens, many of which I don't understand as well as I'd like, but some of that is down to their longevity. Some of my favorite climbs ever have been in pin oaks roughly 80-100 years old, and I expect to see at least one noteworthy cavity from a long-ago limb failure in most specimens. I have a couple of them on my property, around here (SW Indiana) they tend to be infested with wasp galls that slowly damage a limb from the tips on back. The taller one is about 100 feet tall, roughly 60 years old, and after I did away with the hateful vines, the wasp damage, the storm damage, and the dead wood, it's a joy to behold, defects and all.

One other note—in the fall they refuse to give up their dead leaves. There'll be a lot on the ground through fall and winter, but it's not until early spring that the tree dumps the lion's share in a short period. I used to find this annoying, now I find it to be good fertilizer.

[a.wilson]

Really looking forward to these future videos you mention. Been a subscriber for a good long while now and really a lot of what you present is stuff I've been practicing for years. But it is always a pleasure and an education to hear it framed in a different way, seeing you work with trees that are pretty alien to my day to day climbs here in the UK.

[dlbknives]

I'm in Tennessee and my property is loaded with pin oaks among other species, They have never been pruned. The central trunk on most of these are 20-25 feet up before it get's to branching out. I'd imagine these oaks are 75-80 feet tall and are close to 75 years old.

[MP-dba]

Looking forward to your future best pruning practice videos. Would like to listen to your exposition of drop crotch pruning. Thanks Blair

[ianm]

Very informative. Every gardener and arborist should see this.

[DB]

I have seen a lot of mistletoe on the Australian Southern Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta) as well. Thanks for ALL these important and informative videos!

[patrickkennedy]

There's a mistletoe for almost every major tree in the western US. The ones that grow on conifers are this cool orange color. love them hemiparasites.

[jimturtle]

Blair I'm in Rhode Island and Quercus Rubra are literally in almost every yard. They will grow to 100 feet easily and have a straight single central leader ( mostly) that is usually at least 30 feet before branching at full maturity.. You have the best videos Thanks

[erlendarboristtreeclimber]

I would have loved to see some actual cuts you made to that oak, correcting previous pruning cuts and hear your thoughts on why, especially in regards to physiology, tree-hormone response to pruning etc. Thanks as always for your sharing and education.

[waynegriswold]

i live in tucson arizona and i have never seen mistletoe that looks like that before and we have tons of it all over the place. its more stringy, no leaves and when they seed? tiny red balls appear.

you did a wonerful job on the tree, that clip where you can see the light threw the canopy is amazing!

[BinoH]

Thank you, that was a very nice sample of drop-crotch pruning.

[NolanTyrrell]

There are ninety or so native species of mistletoe in Australia.
I've seen it growing on London plane trees, you'd call it a sycamore. Though that tree is not native to Australia.
I use the root ball of mistletoes for wood turning.
It's all over the place in Victoria, where I live, in eucalypts and acacias.

[wayneessar]

Great story about your younger brother and you!

[SpycoLordOfFire]

I see a lot of "this is what wrong looks like" videos, and they are very helpful.

But what does right look like?
Is it dependent of the type of tree or is it solely on placements of cuts?

I'm excited to see the proper methods and the reasons behind them.

[RichardGilbert]

In the midwest and southeast, I've loved how pin oaks hang onto their brown leaves in winter because they add such interest in a bleak landscape. I'm currently training three young pin oaks to the west of my house in Virginia. Mainly this involves removing extra leaders and reducing low branches so pruning wounds will be small when I must remove these low branches.

[robrich]

I’m from Connecticut and my Uncle VIC told me due to having clusters of trees together the trunks grow much larger due to competition for getting sunshine and they are competing. Since your tree is all by itself they spread out with a much shorter trunk height before branches starting to sprout out.

My Uncle VIC had to prune fruit trees for a fruit orchard years ago for almost 20 years. So I’m no expert and would want your recommendations on a excellent pruning book and I’ve noticed many enormous white oaks trunks.

Any tree I noticed the trunk height diminishes greatly before branches are starting to form is because it is a loner all secluded from any competitive growing tree species. A example is my parents property in Connecticut where they only have 1/2 acre of land and red oak tree species grown within 10-15’ apart have thick diameter trunk heights of 35-45’ tall before branching begins.Trees are 75’-80’ tall. I love the thick gnarly bark of the chestnut oak is unbelievable. We have one scarlet oak on my parents property and lightning has struck that poor sole for decades and will never forget seeing a bolt of lightning cause a 12’ high sphere of orange and it has healed up nicely and very tall now. No pin oaks on my parents land here.

Acorns on the white oaks are good and with the reds your supposed to soak them quite a long time for acorn flour.

[filmsbyjd]

In New Hampshire, one of the most common trees is red oak (Quercus rubra). It is a wonderful tree, and one of the most environmentally friendly (or "ecologically beneficial) trees. However, I've noticed that they tend to develop multiple trunks, which is often a weakness. They tend to grow with a straight trunk for 20 - 90 percent up the tree, at most. Even though this species (and others) often develop multiple trunks, is it possible to keep them single-stemmed, even when they are large?
Thanks Blair and have a great day!

[reggieable]

I have a cedar tree on my property and the top died out should I just cut it down or should I just top it and see if that works first? And one more question I want to plant a coastal redwood when is the best time of year to plant one I live in the Pacific Northwest?