Tree Cutting info
Even regular pruning can cause serious harm to trees under certain conditions. Harsh weather, fungus, bacteria and insect insects may take advantage of the open wound left when a tree limb is trimmed. Proper tree cutting techniques can help minimize the risk and assist trees heal over before they are threatened.
Reducing Purpose
Intentional cuts are made on trees for many reasons. Landscapers can remove co-dominant trunks from young trees to market the growth of a more powerful, central trunk. Old trees may need pruning that eliminates infection or disease or might gain from the elimination of interior branches that do not gain regular access to sunlight. Even roots are sometimes trimmed, preventing them from growing toward, and damaging, other landscape attributes.
No Jagged Edges
Following a tree is cut, sap will ooze out of pores and cover the wound. This coating is protective and aids the tree heal the wound. Because irregular edges stick out over the rest of the wound, complete coverage is sometimes not possible. Clean cuts with quite sharp pruning shears or a well-sharpened lopper make sure that sap quickly covers the wound completely and leaves nothing to decay or become contaminated.
Branch Collar
Many of the pruning cuts made to a tree are on the branches. Leaving these cuts properly signifies first finding the branch collar. This is the combined that supports the branch as it rises out from the back. Cutting branches on the outside of the branch collar, away from the central trunk, can help prevent any infection that might occur from reaching the back of the tree.
No Pruning Sealer
Several sealers are available that minimize the aesthetic impact of pruning on trees. While these sealers can help conceal cuts in the brief term, they can disturb the recovery process in the long term, leaving the tree available to disease. Letting the tree’s natural processes happen is a much better way to save the health of the tree.
A Branch Too Far
While pruning is vital for many reasons and can also help a tree into a desirable shape, over-pruning can starve a tree of sunlight, because it eliminates leaves that perpetuate photosynthesis. Even in full grown trees, pruning only about a third of the living tree crown is possible without undermining malnourishment and damage to the tree.