# Pruning dead oak limbs during summer



## burroak

Is it a bad idea to prune dead oak limbs during the summer because of oak wilt? I just want to get the dead limbs while I can tell which limbs don't have leaves. I didn't think it would matter since I'm not cutting the live part of the tree, just the dead limbs.


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## dafunk

From what I've read it seems like only fresh wounds are potential sites for infection from the beetle which acts as the vector, so I would think the deadwood would be okay to prune out, so long as there was no damage to live parts at all. are there many cases of Oak wilt in your area?


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## burroak

That's what I was thinking, but wasn't sure.

I haven't personally seen any cases of oak wilt in my area, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. I like to play on the safe side of things.


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## tomtrees58

disinfect your saws tom trees


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## panamamike

*Easiest way to disinfect saw?*

I have several trees I need to trim. However, each tree only has a few limbs that need trimming. I'd like to make sure I'm not passing on any disease. What's the best way to disinfect between trees?

Do I need to take apart the saw between trees, meaning take off the chain and guide bar then clean. Or can I just apply cleaner to the chain while it's on the saw? I'm guessing this isn't the right answer due to oil and such.

Mike


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## Ed Roland

There is very little research that i can find concerning disenfecting your saw to prevent the spread of OW. Perhaps it would be a good idea if you were pruning a diseased tree but you dont seem to be. You are worried about pruning an oak and then it becoming infected. Since this is the case then i would avoid pruning when the fungal mats are forming and the nitidulid beetles are the most active, during the fall and spring. This being about the hottest part of the summer you could perform the pruning and to be safe immediately paint all wounds if any.


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## panamamike

woodweasel said:


> There is very little research that i can find concerning disenfecting your saw to prevent the spread of OW. Perhaps it would be a good idea if you were pruning a diseased tree but you dont seem to be. You are worried about pruning an oak and then it becoming infected. Since this is the case then i would avoid pruning when the fungal mats are forming and the nitidulid beetles are the most active, during the fall and spring. This being about the hottest part of the summer you could perform the pruning and to be safe immediately paint all wounds if any.



Thanks for the input. I didn't realize the activity was based on humidity/heat. O.K., so my concern stems from how OakWilt spread in Austin TX. Apparently it was due to trimming of trees by the utility company and thus infecting trees because they didn't clean their tools. I'm not a tree expert so I don't know if my tree might or might not be sick. I happen to have a dead tree or two I need to deal with. I was concerned they might have some sort of disease maybe not oak wilt. That's why I was considering cleaning between cuts...


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## Ed Roland

panamamike said:


> Thanks for the input. I didn't realize the activity was based on humidity/heat. O.K., so my concern stems from how OakWilt spread in Austin TX. Apparently it was due to trimming of trees by the utility company and thus infecting trees because they didn't clean their tools. I'm not a tree expert so I don't know if my tree might or might not be sick. I happen to have a dead tree or two I need to deal with. I was concerned they might have some sort of disease maybe not oak wilt. That's why I was considering cleaning between cuts...



More like temp/time. Using degree days we can predict beetle emergence. Cut firewood spreads the disease also. If you are concerned your trees are diseased call out a certified arborist to diagnose the issue. You live in Texas and they have some specific recommendations for pruning oak: Immediately paint all pruning wounds no matter time of year and simply avoid pruning from February through June.


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## Urban Forester

Here's a link to some info that might help: http://www.texasoakwilt.org/


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