pruning cuts right or wrong

[Dean Lofthouse]

I would have thought by the time the branch is showing obvious signs of being dead, most species will have already compartmented off and therefore removing the branch will speed the healing process?

[Rod]

thats more of an answer.

 

i take it that that stops infection etc getting in? and that it happens quickly

[Mesterh]

My thoughts on this are that trees do what they do because they have no choice.

 

What I mean is that they dont have chainsaws and therefore cant do NTP

 

What happens naturally, I think, may not always be the best thing. ie is it better to have a surgeon remove a damaged limb (talking in human terms here) or would it be best to let nature take its course and possibly die from septisema?

 

Trees have survived for millions of years but they shed limbs and more often lower branches(anyone know the technical term ) but it may be better to do it with NTP techniques compared to what mother nature intended.

 

I think it would take a very long term study to determine what is the best way.

 

I have seen trees in natural settings that have suffered extensive rot through limbs that have been shed'd naturally, and seen many seal over through NTP.

[Rod]

sounds right to me but has any study been done?

 

i wasnt trying to re invent the wheel

 

just wondering whilst i was cutting away with the muffs down:001_smile:

[Mesterh]

It's always worth wondering and asking questions that's what improves are business imo.

[Tom D]

My thoughts on this are that trees do what they do because they have no choice.

 

What I mean is that they dont have chainsaws and therefore cant do NTP

 

What happens naturally, I think, may not always be the best thing. ie is it better to have a surgeon remove a damaged limb (talking in human terms here) or would it be best to let nature take its course and possibly die from septisema?

 

Trees have survived for millions of years but they shed limbs and more often lower branches(anyone know the technical term ) but it may be better to do it with NTP techniques compared to what mother nature intended.

 

I think it would take a very long term study to determine what is the best way.

 

I have seen trees in natural settings that have suffered extensive rot through limbs that have been shed'd naturally, and seen many seal over through NTP.

 

Quite right.

 

I think the natural process is called branch abortion, like I say, I think.

[John Hancock]

I’ve always pruned veteran trees differently in that you don’t target prune in the normal sense of the word, i.e. branch collar – branch bark ridge. Instead, carefully prune the dead wood, leaving a small amount still on the tree (approx 5-10mm). This way you can be more confident in not cutting into the branch-collar & ridge, which should be already well formed.

[raafbeard]

Based on my current understanding you are all right.

 

A tree compartmentalises best without assistance, and leaving pegs allows this to happen away from the main stem which reduces the chances of the main stem becoming infected by pathogens.

 

If you look at pegs which have begun the callousing process you see that the reaction wood will typically develop over a larger portion of the remaining stub than would be available had the branch been target pruned.

 

However are stubs acceptable in formal settings? In this case target pruning is the closest we can get to replicating nature whilst leaving a tidy looking job, and minimising damage/stress to the tree.

 

With dead pegs/branches I only ever reduce them back to wood which is already compartmentalised and avoid opening fresh wounds.

 

Hope that helps feel free to critise contradict if I am wrong.

[Paul Barton]

When deadwooding in a location where appearance is less important I often snap or kick off deadwood instead of using the saw for a target pruning cut.

 

I figure that (as has already been said) the tree has more or less compartmentalised itself in that area and is preparing (eventually) to shed the dead limb. By applying a bit of force the dead limb will fracture at it's weakest point which is likely to be the natural place of abscission.

 

Makes sense to me but I am no authority on such things!

 

In formal locations I will tend to leave target pruning cuts though.

[David Humphries]

I expect an informed reply from Monkey any time now :

 

I am currently formulating an opinion on this very issue, which will involve some experimentation at work.

So I'll get back to you in say.....5 to 10 years.

 

The answer is reliant on so many different variables that there is no black and white.

 

I think most if not all reasoning, has already been well touched upon by the previous posters.

ie; species, target, local environmental conditions, trees vitality etc.....

 

I'm no expert, more an avid observer of both nature and mans interaction with all things Arbor related.

 

We've all seen Oak stubs developing strong wound wood around naturally retained dead wood.

 

.