little pruing job

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Seems like there is very little discussion or demonstration of prunign techniques on video and video forums.. So I was wondering if this one would generate some interest.. My guess is that it is just too slow to keep most arbs' attention... See what you think..

 

This video shows "before, during and after", the process of pruning a young maple. The tree was getting too big for the space and shading the lawn heavily. No actual cutting is shown, juts shots of the tree. There is a lot of talking about the pruning process that may be helpful for newbies and those that want to learn some pruning basics. The rest of you are sure to be bored by all the chatter!

 

NOTE: because of the species, youth, vigor of this tree, a very large percentage of the green leafy material was removed, MUCH MORE than would be acceptable for the vast majority of trees. With pruning, normally less is more, but the client needed this tree cut back hard to fit the space and allow for a lot more light, and this particular tree could handle it well.

 

 

THANK YOU for posting this whihc I feel represents a very good opportunity for informed discussions both in the tecahing environment (to 'newbies') AND as a workplace tool-box talk (to 'not so' newbies.)

 

I think there are good, and some not so good, issues highlighted BUT this makes it even more valuable as a teaching/learning aid to get veiwers thinking and questioning.

 

If you don't mind I will be forwarding the link to the 'ArbACs' with an outline for a useful tool-box talk.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to run the video and post it...much appreciated!

 

Cheers..

Paul

[dadio]

I have one question i see you've created a lot of light peculation through the crown and raised up the lower branches. I was wondering what your thoughts were on direct sunlight baking the root area as this 'could' become a problem for water filtration to the roots. Granted it wouldn't be a long term effect initially because the crown will sprout a lot of regrowth quickly. But it only takes one dry, hot summer and this could cause un-needed stress on the tree and its ability to function.

 

That is a valid concern and I AM constantly warning my clients not to remove lower limbs on their trees (elevate), because of the tremendous value these limbs have of shading the root zone and trunk. The importance of these lower limbs is effected by the way the sun falls on the area, with the amount of southern-western exposure of large portions of the trunk and root zone and the shade coming from the surrounding tree canopy and being concerns. The older and less healthy the tree, the more care needs to be taken. I would expect this to be much more of a concern in the US than in England due to the long hot & dry summers here.

 

On this particular tree, we did open up the side by the house A LOT (southern exposure), and I think there is enough shade on the trunk and limbs to prevent sun scald. It seems like sun scald is more associated with western exposure, as those long hot afternoons in July and August can be brutal around here. The root zone is not much of a concern, as the tree overall has plenty of shade on that area, and is only going to grow more of those large dense leaves. Though its not a bad idea to ask the clients to water the tree once a week in the dry spells..

[18 stoner]

So Daniel, as queried by Frosty, why was there very little/if any pruning done in the top canopy?

[dadio]

Mmm...a few good points made there Ian. Also I was wondering why the very top of the crown wasn't touched? I'd have thought that's the best place to start working on the tree. It looked a little bit lions-tailed to me. Maybe my inexperienced eye is mistaken.

 

Still, client happy so all's cool

 

There were only two limbs (less than 8% of the canopy) that were not touched. I thought it was explained on the video that they were left untouched so that they would acquire apical dominance and the tree would therefore direct its majority of growth into those two, while stunting the growth of the remainder of the tree. This was done to deal with a tree that was too big (wide) for the space it is in. The crimson maple tends to grow wide and lack a good leader. I was trying to "correct" this...

 

And whoever thought the upper canopy was not pruned, is mistaken. I pruned every other limb on this tree.. That was most apparent when seeing the tree in person, and far less so on film... That is why pruning is so hard to show on video.. If you can look at a small picture of a tree's before and after and see a noticeable difference, then the tree has most likely been butchered.. With many other species and conditions of trees, even this much pruning would be butchering..

[Pete Bannister]

That's a good video. Your commentary is informed and pertinent. Many thanks for posting it..more like that please!

[Neil Frost]

Thanks for answering Daniel. As you say it's hard to tell sometimes from a video. Time lapse videos work well and can often show the work in the clearest way.

 

You've been working with trees a lot longer than me and I guess we have different methods and requirements to your side of the pond sometimes. I haven't read the ANSI standards for tree work, it would be interesting to compare to the British standards.

 

Keep posting videos Dan! Always enjoy them.

[dadio]

The problem with standards is they have a hard time accounting for the differences in meeting the needs of such a wide variety of species and trees, and situations where the needs of the human/landscape interface can be so different..

 

Also standards cannot take into account the vast differences in the skill, experience and ability between arborists.

 

And thridly, standards are by definition behind the times. Just as science is constantly changing and progressing, so is the way we do this work. As superior techniques and understanding are developed they must transcend the OLD standards.. Thus standards represent the old, widely accepted norms. Anyone that is progressive and breaking new ground, must necessarily be violating standards..

 

There are lots of people in this industry that are stuck on standards.. To me, they are useful (to a limited degree) and important to use in training newbies, however, I see their limitations and fortunately have transcended much of that.