Thinning and Reducing Beech

[sime42]

Hello all

 

I'm fairly new to this game so could do with some advice from all you knowledgeable guys.

 

I been asked to do a job that involves the reducing and thinning of a beech tree. Its the common story;- it over-shadows the lawn so takes most of their sun. They want me to take off about a third of the height of it. (I say it, although it's actually 3 or 4 trunks coming from what might be a common base. It is at the end of a beech hedge so could well be an overgrown part of that.) I'd say the height of the tree(s) is 50 - 60 feet.

 

My question is;- when is the best time of year to do this work? And also, is it even possible? (I read somewhere that you shouldn't really prune beech trees at all.)

 

I've attached some pictures for info. (And amusement;- see camp looking attire of my mate that wants the work doing!)

 

I'd be grateful for any experience or ideas that people might have on this.

 

Cheers

 

Simon

[detritus21]

I'm no expert but I'd be pushing for a crown lift and if you must a bit of a crown thin. reducing it in height won't make much difference to light in my oppinion. All it will do is encourage it to grow back to that height and with thicker growth

[danbrown87]

A Beech of that size might not survive a heavy thin as they can't produce epicormic. I'm with detritus on the crown lift. You're right about pruning Beechs, they really don't appreciate it.

[ukminch]

I'm no expert either, I haven't been in this game long at all, so I'm sure somebody may have better advice.....

 

I'd be tempted to recommend a crown lift (as already suggested) and crown clean. I.e Remove any deadwood, crossed or rubbing brances and then thin ever so slightly at the same time. You'll be amazed at how that will open out the canopy and allow the light through.

 

As for the best time of year, presumably in it's doormant season??

 

As I said I am still learning so if anybody's got constructive criticism please let me know

 

Rob

[Mesterh]

That will easily take a reduction of a third.Done properly of course

Beeches do respond well to pruning they seal over quite well, its when there hacked back to next to nothing they dont always recover.

They can also produce new growth from "pollard" points but not always,but you wouldnt be doing that anyway

 

May aswell leave it till the dormant season now,the worst time for large reduction is during leaf fall and leaf form.

 

Oh I am an expert btw (wheres that trumpet)

 

I'm sure there will be other suggestions/advice so dont necessarily listen to mine

[bob]

funny i was reducing and thinning a beech today

TPO,d reduce over road side only by a third and thin by upto 30%

this was all done as a large branch had snapped out and squashed a car

the hard part of the job was that it had been drop crotched in the past so all anchor points had gone and it was twice as wide as tall and the drop crotching had not been done particularly well imo shame i did not take a before and after photo just a load of the decay points in the tree as i have concerns over the safety of the tree so have included a couple for your perusal

the trees in your pictures i would lift and then a reduction and leave the thin till next year if poss so as not to stress the tree too much or thin this tear and reduce next but you may then have removed all your reduction points

[cerneARB]

I would agree with Bob, do the reduction this year and thin the following year. i think you just need to reduce the tips of the branches no more than 30mm , nothing to big , no large wounds. beech have not very durable heartwood and are prone to early decay from a lot of fungi. Shame its been under manged (the multi stems) are partly due to the loss of light. maybe it would have been not to bad if it had one centeral leader..but hey hind sight is a wonderfull thing.

 

Not an expert..but getting there:001_tongue:

[sime42]

Thanks all. This is exactly the kind of response I was hoping for. Some good advice there. And pretty much a consensus too!

 

I wasn't too keen on giving the tree as drastic a cut-back as the customer seemed to want. I'll have a chat with them and convince them that less is more!

 

I thought beech were pretty good at healing up over cuts. I've seen scars that have almost disappeared. But, I guess that they could have been done at an early age as the smaller the branch cut the better it heals.

 

cerneARB - Do you really mean only cut off 30mm? That seems tiny to me. Would take forever;- there would be that many.

 

Cheers

[MattyF]

thinning and reducing at the same time is not good,i would reduce max 25%then go back in 3 years then thin.

[Rupe]

They want me to take off about a third of the height of it.

 

Firstly its best not to ever agree to take a third of the height of anything except Leylandii.

 

Reducing a tree (especially Beech) should not be about achieving specified heights. Its all about doing what you can for the customer within the boundaries of what is right for the tree. Its important to explain this, in writing to the client so they Know what to expect.

 

So you don't reduce the height by a third, you reduce the crown by a third.

 

Then you would say "reduce the crown by upto aproximately a third"

 

Then explain who you will achieve that third. By crown lifting, crown cleaning (as mentioned above) and by thinning. Thinning could include the removal of longer leaders in each area, thus reducing the overall size by a small amount. The result should be improved light levels as requested and something they can be proud of and enjoy for many years.

 

Neither the client or the climber will ever be proud of a third redcution in height on a Beech!