Pruning for good canopy

[tree-fancier123]

take the top out of it - no, seriously why not consider some evergreen species too - a holm oak perhaps, red robin, there are probably better evergreens, even cherry laurel would provide a nice green screen. I suppose you need to strike a balance between screening for privacy and creating excessive shade. I worked in a similarly overlooked garden where a nice conifer had to come down that was a screen and have planted cherry laurel as a replacement. It's more of a bush than a tree, but grows quick. Nothing wrong with pruning your diciduous specimens following the excellent advice available above and cheaply in books such as RHS Pruning and Training, Ed Gillman - An Illustrated Guide to Pruning, Pruning of Trees Shrubs and Conifers -Brown, Kirkham, most of which pop up second hand on ebay (don't buy now or it may come with viable virus attached to the hard surface packaging, research not yet conclusive)

[Dan Maynard]

I'm a fan of Dr Gilman, his book is 600pages so does take a bit of dedication.

I found these videos of him lecturing, presumably for the university but if you find the material accessible then all worth a watch.

Dr. Ed Gilman Teaching Series - Educated Climber.com

WWW.EDUCATEDCLIMBER.COM

---

photo courtesy of University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Dr. Ed Gilman is the author of “An Illustrated Guide to Pruning“, arguably the most complete and accessible reference on tree pruning in our industry. This comprehensive text has helped to inform countless professional arborists and tree surgeons on the best practices of training, trimming and […]

[Guest Gimlet]