On 8/29/2008 9:12 PM, Zootal wrote:
I have a tall (~60 feet) fir tree next to my house. It has grown to the
point where the branches are starting to touch the side of the house, even
though the base of the tree is ~10 feet from the house. What is the best way
to trim the branches - remove them at the trunk, or just cut them enough so
they are no longer near the house? If I start removing branches that grow
enough to touch the house, eventually I will have chopped off most of the
branches on that side of the tree. I'm thinking I should just cut them off
so they are not too close to the house.



On many conifers, a branch will die back to its base if it is cut below
the last live needles. If you need to cut a branch severely, you must
therefore remove the branch entirely. That doesn't necessarily mean
removing it to the trunk, only to where it branches out from some other
branch. Of course, in some cases, a branch might come directly from the
trunk.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/