Pruning trees

Many people do not realize that winter is an excellent time to prune trees.  I had a crab apple that was getting too close to the front of the house and a Ginko that hadn't been pruned since it was planted over a decade ago.  The Ginko had been very stunted by poor soil conditions in the nursery and hadn't grown much before or the first few years after planting.  A bit of compost and better drainage finally helped it take off.  The poor Ginko was over-run by a weedy mulberry and half of it didn't develop because of shading on the south side of the tree.  I gave it a year to recover and find the light before climbing up there tonight and giving it balance.  So much of the tree was over the yard and all the energy was heading north and west.  I watched it this summer and determined what was going to need work come winter.
After a little bit of ground work of deciding what should stay and what should go, I climbed up into the tree with my ARS saw and Felco pruner.  These are two of the best pruning tools I have ever owned professionally and for home.  My goal was to get a central leader going in the tree again and provide balance to the long shaded crown.

Starting from the top of the picture, I established a new leader on the tree.  I noted this summer what was dead up there and what my best option was to go with. The next several cuts were to remove branches where multiple branches were coming from the same point on the trunk.  I was also choosing to remove branches that were reaching up to my new leader and competing with it for top position in the crown.  The third type of cuts I made were to head back some of the other competing branches that were somewhat smaller but also competing.  There were too many branches to remove completely for competition reasons, so heading them back to an outward bound side branch will buy me some time while the tree reestablishes the new central leader.  The lowest cuts were to provide clearance over the shed.  I also cut off any inner branches growing straight up into the tree and crossing with other branches.

When I was done, you can now look up into the tree and see that the branches now balance out over the entire circumference of the trunk.  Number one was my heading cut to establish a new leader.  2 and 4 are cuts to remove the excess number of branches originating for the same point. (#2 is a cut which I should have taken back a bit more to reduce the stub effect you can see).  #3 is a heading cut which is on a side branch to keep it from competing with my new leader.  #5 is the cut which raised the lowest branch up from the shed.
Ginko trees tend to have more branches at a whorl (a point at the same height on the trunk, think Christmas trees) so eliminating the multiple branch cluster is not the ultimate goal.  Directional pruning to encourage outward growth is a plus with them as they can have kind of twisted branches which want to head up through the center.  Get to know your trees by species so you know what to expect when pruning.  


Here is the best diagram you can have to understand the proper pruning cuts.  Doing a 3 step cut will help keep you from tearing bark down the trunk when taking off heavier branches.  It is a good practice for ones you may also consider small branches.  Never make flush cuts!  These will not heal well because you have removed the branch collar which helps the branch cut close over the pruning wound.  Study up on pruning before you take the saw outdoors and start hacking away.  

Coutesy of West Texas Forestry Council

I will end the Pruning 101 session here as there can be more said than time allows.  I am a gardener, but I am an Urban Forester first.  If you are not up to pruning your own trees or don't have the equipment to do it, hire a trained arborist.  There are plenty of people with a chain saw and truck that can give you a bid on pruning.  It is the trained arborist that will know what needs to be done and the best way to do it.  Certified arborist can be found through the International Society of Arboriculture.  One job you should NEVER do on your own is anything around electrical wires including cable and phone.  Always call your local power company first.

Sometimes gardening is hard work

I have been pushing myself to the limits lately.  There are these big jobs that I put off until another day until they just can't wait anymore.  I live adjacent to a county park which is only 13 acres, but the county has been cutting budgets and staff to the point that nothing gets done which isn't an emergency.  For the 15+ years that we have been their neighbor, we have adopted our 140' stretch of "natural" area to keep it free of most invasives.  Trust me, this is what would grow there exclusively if it weren't for human intervention to fight it.

I did the pruning on the sugar maple that was planted there to keep it growing in good form this weekend.  I think it will take a rope and saddle rather than free climbing the next round.  By then it might also be ready to tap for maple syrup.  Time will tell.  I also pulled and pruned off several box elder sprouts that are threatening to make life miserable.  I had one that got away from us and it is too big to cut down without notice now.  That one got pruned up so a mower can pass under it rather than letting the burdock grow under its protection again.  This meant more brush to the pile.  Add to that the dead, cracked, and worn out lilac stems that were creating a tangled mess of nothing pretty to the mix and the pile grew even more.  Fortunately, a former co-worker is able to come by and chip the multiple piles and leave behind a truckload of chips besides.

My husband has one knee replacement and one needing replacement, so shovel work really aggravates the problem.  We have two more deck posts to dig out as well as three shrubs to transplant in the place of the invasives.  In their place, kiwi vines will grow to fruit and screen the backyard.  They arrived in the mail this week, so time is of the essence.  The old deck poles will find a new home as supports for these hardy vines.

Asparagus roots have arrived and the mushroom plugs are waiting for the spruce stumps to sprout their bounty.  Seedlings are needing water in the basement greenhouse and another round of seeds need a home to grow.  When it rains, it pours.

My advice:  Don't come around anytime soon if you don't want a shovel thrust into your hands.  Happy Arbor Day!

Fair weather, time to catch up

I was really hoping to use a few days of vacation this spring to ease into gardening.  Snow and cold later into the spring followed by weeks of rain and soggy ground have thwarted that plan.  Now that the fair weather is here, work has me too busy to take the days I have.  Weekends are catch up time now.

My plan this morning was to clean up the gardens.  I wanted to get the evergreen boughs up from the sprouting beds and get the leaves out of the corners.  I also was ready with my pruning saw.  Before I knew it, I was up in the sugar maple doing a long awaited clean up, and training prune.  Next was the columnar maple in the backyard.  This one has surpassed the second floor of the house and had two large branches I wasn't liking.  Already tired from climbing the sugar maple, I reluctantly got out the extension ladder and went to work. Branches that are six inches plus in diameter do not come off easily.  To do a proper pruning cut, you have to reduce the weight on the end of the branch, under-cut then over-cut the branch about 18" from the trunk, and then complete the cut with a cut outside the branch bark ridge at about a 45 degree angle.  Essentially you cut it twice through the thickest part of the branch.  I was not using a chain saw.  I am feeling it now or is it my age?

I didn't stop there because I have three bushes to dig and transplant.  To make it easier later, I cut them down six inches from the ground using my long handled lopper.  Digging did not happen today for reasons stated above.  I plan on sleeping well tonight.

On the upside, the job is done and I spent some time puttering in my beds picking up small evergreen boughs for the remainder of the afternoon.  It is so encouraging to see the new life poking up through the mulch.  The color of the new shoots can be so different from the full grown leaves.  The Virginia blue bells are purple rolls of shiny leaves.  The blood root is just starting to send up flowers.  Tiny blue flowers from several spring bulbs are showing in all kinds of areas where they have been planted among the ground covers.  It was a beautiful day to be in the yard.

I think I will close here and take some ibuprofen.  Forgive me for not proof reading.