Staged tree reductions - Your opinion

[Steve Bullman]

Picture the scenario:

 

mature Oak tree that has sustained lightning damage in the past. The tree has been reduced previously and now has approximately 3-4m regrowth. With the condition of the affect stem(basically the whole of one of the leaders is damaged) it has been recommended that the tree is reduced back to the previous points as ongoing maintenance.

The result of this would be a loss of a considerable amount of foliage due to the crown being quite open and most of the growth being on the regrowth.

 

With the dry year last year the vitality of the tree is questionable, and perhaps carry out the reduction in one hit might not be advisable.

 

One suggestion thats been made is to carry out the works over 3 years. This would involve reducing a third of the canopy thus achieving the full reduction in the 3 years. I have issues with basically leaving a tree looking part finished over a 3 year period, although I can see the sense behind it. I am not involved in working on the tree(I hope), but am aware of the report (i wrote it) and suggested plan of action.

 

Thought it would make for an interesting discussion.

 

 

[Gary Prentice]

Got any photo's Steve?

 

Staging might be more stressful than hitting it once. Every cut made will be compartmentalised, then that cut gets cut off again, and again. It's a big call on the trees energy resources.

 

Can you mulch the tree - to give it both a health boost and improve it resistance to drought. Get the tree in better health before surgery?

 

e

[Steve Bullman]

I thought I had some but can't find them.

 

Mulching is a good idea.

 

I'm of a similar mind that maybe its best to just get it done in one hit

[Gary Prentice]

Mulching is always a good idea, the universal panacea 

[Khriss]

Good crown lift then tickle the top down. K

[Joe Newton]

Taking it a meter below previous points will drastically reduce the number of wounds for the tree to compartmentalize 

[Darrin Turnbull]

I‘m no expert, but i read or heard somewhere that a Oak will only recover from one large reduction.

 

[Darrin Turnbull]

Sorry for the cr*p english ( still thinking in German probably ).

what i meant to say was . Oaks can only recover once after a heavy crown reduction.

 

[Paul Cleaver]

Without seeing a pic , how about formative pruning/thinning the new growth carefully, to eventually achieve an even crown in many yrs to come.

oh - yes to mulching too

[Funky munkey]

how about a water soluble mhycorrhizal first and then a mulch and finally prune once you see some vigorous growth