# i need some advice on pruning longleaf casuarina(long leaf ironwood) tree's.



## voxac30dude (Jan 17, 2010)

i need alittle help with these. do i just treat them like i would regular pines?


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## Bermie (Jan 18, 2010)

For some reason I can't see your picture...

Casuarina spp. are not pines, they are a link tree between angiosperms and gymnosperms...
I work on C. equisetifolia and C. cunninghamiana over here, introduced and now considered invasive.

If you have not worked on them before beware, they have VERY hard heavy wood, and will dull your chain before you can blink.

That said, use RMC chain if possible or be prepared to resharpen often...mind you you'll be resharpening often anyway, I just pack a few chains ready to go and swap when needed.

If you are reducing or pruning, treat them like a broadleaf hardwood and target prune to acceptable sized laterals, or use heading cuts at appropriate locations.

For windbreak trees over here, we cut them back hard, and maintain the regrowth on a three to five year cycle...amenity trees are treated a little better, but you'll still be going back at least every three years to control size and spread.


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## voxac30dude (Jan 18, 2010)

thanks for the reply


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## Bermie (Jan 20, 2010)

So...how's it going?


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## treeslayer (Jan 20, 2010)

If it's anything like what we fondly call Ironwood in the VA countryside here, its some terribly hard wood.
Makes great tool handles, and back in the day many farmers made their truck and wagon beds out of planks sawn from it. that stuff dries and weathers, its indestructible. 

I used to make nunchaku out of it, too.

American Hornbeam / Carpinus caroliniana Walt.

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_2/carpinus/caroliniana.htm


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## voxac30dude (Jan 20, 2010)

yeah it looks like this


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## treeseer (Jan 20, 2010)

if your job is to maintain that hedge then first thin the top.

funky plant choice--you got no Ilex sp. there?


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## Bermie (Jan 23, 2010)

Ahhh...the old, casuarina hedge in front of a chainlink fence...

See a lot of this over here.

What is your goal? do they want you to try and renovate it, make it thicker all over?

If so, that will be quite difficult as the lower portion of the hedge has been allowed to get mature, hence the thick trunks and sparse lower foliage. The top is typical, probably been macheted year after year, see the thick growth on top, and the accumulation of dead needles just below. all the regenerating growth has been concentrated in the top, with the lower portion being shaded out and getting sparser and sparser.

Depending on the amount of branching in the lower portion, it can be cut back HARD, almost topped really, about the only time I would even suggest this, casuarina sprouts quite vigourously with watersprouts and epicormics after a hard cut back...of course the risk is that the 'parent tree' are too old and tired to regenerate sufficiently.

Looking at the thickness of the trunks if you have the time, try cutting a couple back real hard to reasonable sized lateral and see how they do...otherwise if they are looking for thick lush growth top to bottom fairly soon they'd be better off ripping the whole lot out and starting again. For a thick hedge we plant new trees at 2' centres, and formative prune to ensure branching from as low as possible

Its important to maintain that tapered out shape to ensure light gets to the whole surface, top to bottom, shearing them with a machete inevitably ends up with an inverted shape that shades out the bottom...

Treeseer, casuarinas make very good tight hedges, respond well to shearing year after year, and the odd hard prune to maintain a good scaffold. They hold up well in dry conditions and tolerate a good amount of wind and salt spray.


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