Joan Swenson: In pruning season, be careful where you cut
| Wednesday, Oct 29 2008 01:34 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 02:21 PM
The Tree Foundation of Kern is a good source of information about tree pruning, including excellent illustrations of good and bad pruning. Check the group's Web site at urbanforest.org and click on "Pruning Tips."
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Most trees, unless they are deciduous fruit trees, don't need to be pruned every year, though pruning a tree to improve its structure or due to safety issues can be good ideas.
It is tree pruning time in Bakersfield, a time when the ripping and tearing sounds of chain saws digging into tree branches just about breaks my heart.
Why do Bakersfield people hate trees so much?
If you drive through neighborhoods in the fall, you'll see formerly beautiful liquidambar trees cut into freakish hat racks. You'll see coast redwoods that have been thinned, for crying out loud, and sycamores cut so severely that they never recover. I've observed thinned-out oak trees that are unable to generate a new leaf cover and die after a few years of being fried in the Bakersfield summer sun.
Dare we speak of the wicked attacks on fruitless mulberry trees? Nothing says "I'm back in Bakersfield" from a winter trip to Southern California like a few knotty fists of excessively pruned fruitless mulberry trees waving to me from the backyards adjacent to Highway 99.
"Home, sweet Bakersfield," I say when I see the mulberries.
You can stand up in your own little way against brutal prunings in your own yard. If you decide to prune your trees, first ask yourself "why?"
Trees -- unless they are deciduous fruit trees -- do not need to be pruned every year. Don't trim your trees because you see other people doing it. Typically, you should have no reason to prune evergreen trees such as pines, redwoods and deodar cedars. (Some crazy guys with saws have been known to take that sweet little bent tip of a deodar cedar off. Don't let anyone climb your deodar cedar and do this.)
Frankly, if you want to prune a tree because it's too big, you probably should remove the tree altogether. If a tree is too big for your yard, too close to the house, or whatever, by all means, take it down and plant a tree that suits the location.
If you are pruning trees to improve their structure, go ahead. If you are pruning trees because they have safety issues, such as broken branches or those that could pose a danger to people, go ahead. One tree needs to be pruned to save itself: the California pepper. California pepper trees need to be thinned out before March winds cause some of these trees do fall over.
But if someone wants to top your trees, say "no thanks." If you hire a guy with a chain saw and a pickup truck because he's a bargain and he tops your trees, the pruning you get may cost you a lot more later on. Some pruning does long-term, slow damage, and you may finally have to have the tree removed. I've seen trees topped around Bakersfield that slowly and tortuously die, branch by branch.
Topping is the midbranch chopping off of any branch. Just about any tree in Bakersfield has the potential to be topped. Heck, the most amazing topped trees are topped coast redwoods, which resemble large bushes after this treatment. Generally, deciduous trees that are headed back will produce many branches right at the spot where they have been cut. These new branches beget more pruning as they look gosh-awful. They are also poorly attached to the tree and are more likely to break. This is why people have to prune and prune and prune mulberries.
Some topping, however, will not result in any growth, particularly on Modesto ash trees and sycamores. These trees are fussy about producing new growth midbranch.
The perfect pruning cut is a heading cut and it should be made where branches connect with other branches or the tree trunk. Cuts should be made just outside the bark collar. You will recognize a perfectly located heading cut by the smooth, rounded healing over of the area. If you cut too far into the bark collar, it will not heal correctly, but too far you'll get a stub that may rot. Study your branch connections carefully before you make a cut and get the angles right.
I had a neighbor who complained about the cost of an excellent tree-pruning company I recommended. The price was just too much. I say, you pay for what you get. If you hire a licensed and insured company, you are reducing the risk to your trees and property. It is not cheap to supply the right equipment and well-trained workers doing the pruning. Go ahead and hire one of those unlicensed, uninsured folks who drop a card at your front door if you're trying to save money. It may work out. But I'd rather not take that chance.
