The Plant Man column
for publication week of 11/23/03 - 11/29/03
(863 words)
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The Plant Man
by Steve Jones
www.landsteward.com

Pruning: a kindly cut for your trees


Pruning trees is a subject that crops up quite frequently in e-mail that I
receive from readers of this column.

Many people feel uneasy about cutting limbs from their trees, even though
they understand in principle that it's often a necessary and beneficial
practice. "It feels as if I'm performing surgery without anesthetic," as one
reader put it!

Let's take a look at the basics of pruning, and I'll also point you at some
online resources you can access and that will give you a far more
comprehensive understanding of pruning than we have room for here.

As Douglas F. Welsh, Extension Horticulturist at Texas A & M points out,
"Pruning, like any other skill, requires knowing what you are doing to
achieve success. The old idea that anyone with a chain saw or a pruning saw
can be a landscape pruner is far from the truth. More trees are killed or
ruined each year from improper pruning than by pests."

But wait! Before you throw in the towel and give up before you even start,
you can do a very good job of pruning your own trees if you follow a few
relatively simple guidelines.

Why prune at all?

You are pruning to produce plants that are strong, healthy and attractive.
An online publication produced by the U.S. Forestry Service reminds us that
we should consider pruning for three main reasons: safety, health and
aesthetics.

Safety: Tree limbs are heavy and when they fall or are torn off by bad
weather, and they can cause serious injury or major damage to property. It's
bad enough if it's you or your property that gets hit. But if a falling limb
strikes a neighbor or passerby, the results can be very expensive!

Health: Removing dead, diseased or insect-infested limbs can save a tree's
life and restore it to health. By thinning the "crown" you can also
increase airflow through and around your tree, and a healthy tree is less
likely to lose limbs during bouts of bad weather.

Aesthetics: When you prune with aesthetics as your priority, you're doing so
to create a more pleasing shape or to stimulate flower production.

If your trees are located in close proximity to overhead power lines, I
suggest you consider a "pre-emptive prune" before your local Utility company
decides to come out and do the job for you. Now in this case, I'm certainly
not recommending that you personally climb a wobbly ladder clutching a
chainsaw and endangering life and limb. YOUR life and limb, that is, not the
tree's. The high-up work is a job for professionals, so please hire a
reliable firm of tree surgeons.

But let's stay closer to the ground for now.

To prune a live limb you need to locate the "branch collar" that grows from
the stem tissue at the underside of the base of the branch, according to the
U.S. Forestry web site on pruning. On the upper surface, there is usually a
branch bark ridge that runs (more or less) parallel to the branch angle,
along the stem of the tree. Begin the cut just outside the branch bark
ridge and angle it down and away from the stem of the tree. When you follow
this basic step, you ensure a fairly rapid wound closure, maintaining a
healthy tree.

As with any landscaping job, the right tools are essential if you expect to
carry out a successful pruning.

On smaller limbs you can use pruning shears. There are two basic designs you
can choose from: scissor action and anvil action. The main difference is
that with scissor action, a thin, sharp blade slides closely past a thicker
but also sharp blade, whereas with anvil action, a sharpened blade cuts
against a broad, flat blade. In either case, it is essential that blades
that are meant to be sharp really ARE sharp, or you'll simply end up tearing
and shredding the limb instead of making a clean cut.

Higher and heavier limbs can be pruned using a pole-saw pruner. This
basically consists of a hooked blade above and a cutting blade beneath. The
cutter is on a pole and is operated by pulling a rope downward. I have to
say that this can be risky! Cut limbs have a habit of falling suddenly and
can strike whatever is below... including you! Wear a hard hat and eye
protection at all times. Or employ a tree surgeon and let them worry about
falling limbs!

You can find direct links to the following helpful Web resources when you
find this column archived under the "Plant Man" heading at my web site
www.landsteward.org

"Pruning Shade Trees in Landscapes" by Dr. E. F. Gilman, University of
Florida, http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/pruning/
"How to Prune Trees" by the U.S. Forestry Service,
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/ho...ne/prun001.htm
"Proper Pruning Techniques" from the Agricultural Program of Texas A & M
University Extension Service,
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/e...g/pruning.html

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and
landscaping to and for resources and additional
information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org where you
can also subscribe to Steve's free e-mailed newsletter.