Spring-time Acer pruning

[Hill-Billy]

Hi guys - any Maple experts out there? I've just been asked by a customer to prune some of their Acers. Now, while most of us have heard that you shouldn't prune a cherry/plum tree until May time - apparently (according to George E Brown) you shouldn't prune Maples during late winter/spring-time because they will bleed sap! How real is this? Any help would be much appreciated.

[firewoodman]

yep, maples bleed, use your own judgement if you prune.

[Stubby]

Hi guys - any Maple experts out there? I've just been asked by a customer to prune some of their Acers. Now, while most of us have heard that you shouldn't prune a cherry/plum tree until May time - apparently (according to George E Brown) you shouldn't prune Maples during late winter/spring-time because they will bleed sap! How real is this? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Yep felled last week , sap rising .

[Hill-Billy]

Best not to prune Maples in February then I guess.

[nepia]

They'll bleed just about any time they're cut!

[Hill-Billy]

They'll bleed just about any time they're cut!

 

That's an interesting pic. What exactly am I looking at and when did you do the pruning?

[slack ma girdle]

The best time i have found is as soon as they have dropped their leaves.

[Hill-Billy]

The best time i have found is as soon as they have dropped their leaves.

 

Sounds about right to me!

[dan 86]

Did one in September 25% reduction

[nepia]

That's an interesting pic. What exactly am I looking at and when did you do the pruning?

 

 

The pic is of sap icicles. I pruned it one cool day in December and it froze hard that night.

There have been no ill effects; the tree's fine with no dieback near the wounds but that's not true of the three 3" cuts I made: they broke back 7-8" behind the cuts and there are now dead stubs. Of course that may happen regardless of pruning time; I can't say whether it was the timing of the cut or the size of the cut that led to that small dieback.

 

Jon