GardenBanter.co.uk - [IBC] sacrifice branches.. remove each season???

At 10:22 PM 2/14/03 -0500, Steve Wolfinger wrote:
okay.... when working on thickening a trunk... after a trunk chop, the
leader for the new section is wired up and left to grow. sacrifice branches
are left to grow too... to help thicken the trunk.

here's my thought and question.

Remove all the sacrifice branches each winter (leaving the leader of
course) and allow the tree to send out new shoots each season... this way
minimizing the size of the scar that has to heal. or is it more beneficial
to let the sacrifice branches grow season to season?.. (when trying to
thicken a trunk up)

does the thickness that sacrifice branches are allowed to attain have any
effect on the speed at which the trunk thickens??

Steve

Oh Boy, a real question.

First, you have already received some pretty good advice from others.
Specifically, that the answers are somewhat species dependent. However,
there are some generalizations.

Scarring is an important issue. You must leave enough time for rapid growth
to accomplish almost complete healing before trunk completion. After the
trunk is complete and final branch work begins, scar healing will
dramatically slow down because the object is to slow all growth. This is
somewhat species dependent, in that, some species grow and heal rapidly,
others, such as Beech, much more slowly. But in general, experience is more
important in knowing how much time is needed. You can get this experience
pretty quickly simply by observing the process, taking note of how long it
takes the earliest scars to heal over.

As I continually pound the point: It is crucial that you have a plan in
mind, or you will be just shooting in the dark. You should at least know
the final caliper, shape and height of the trunk. This will guide your
decision making. The first chop should come after the base section is about
2/3 its final caliper. Otherwise, you are just slowing down the process and
wasting the opportunity to build in taper. Wait too long and you do not
have enough time for scar healing or for good taper section transition.

Allowing sacrifice branches to grow in addition to leader and trunk section
formation is a good plan. It will speed scar healing and create additional
taper. You should not allow lower sacrifices to over run the leader, always
keep them headed back somewhat. Once a trunk line is finished, you can
allow lower sacrifices to grow wild to develop additional taper, heal
scars, correct reverse taper, and channel energy away from the 'tree'.

Sacrifices should be removed when they have completed their job, or they
begin to contribute to difficulties in other areas, i.e. there will not be
enough time to heal the scars, reverse taper (bulges) are developing, or
the rest of the 'tree' is becoming too weak.

Annual pruning of sacrifices is not necessary in light of the above
discussion. Yes, you can do it, but you won't be taking full advantage of
the technique. And yes, leaving a sacrifice intact will give you the
greatest effect in terms of thickening the trunk section at the point of
attachment. Removing growth simply removes the mechanism for growing more
wood.

Brent in Northern California
Evergreen Gardenworks USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 14

http://www.EvergreenGardenworks.com

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