# Trimming/Thinning Live Oaks



## grabroot&growl (Mar 11, 2007)

The live Oaks are dropping their leaves pretty heavily in preparation for the new growth. We finally are getting some good moisture as we speak, but I need to do some trimming.

I am afraid I have waited too long to trim heavily on these trees, but would some one give me some advice?

I have a large number 100+ large old live oaks on the place and many have limbs that drop almost to the ground. I want to raise the canopy, but am afraid of removing 10+" dia. limbs to do so.

They are not fairing well because we have been lacking in good percolation due to a major infestation of mesquite. I left the area for a number of years and am back and trying to clean the place up. I am removing the mesquite to allow more ground moisture for forage grasses as well as the decidedly more asthetic trees on the property.

Anything would help.

Thanks


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## NickfromWI (Mar 12, 2007)

*leave the leaves*

Why do you want to raise the canopy? The look of an oak with limb that touch the ground is the sign of a tree that's been there for a long time. Can the trees stay the way they are? 

You are right- removing limbs that size is not good for the tree.

Can you get us pictures?

Get that mequite outta there!

love
nick


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## Fireaxman (Mar 15, 2007)

I agree with Nick. If you can let them touch the ground they can be beautiful. The Seven Sisters Live Oak (I think it is the national champion) is a few miles from me in Mandeville, Louisiana. Its limbs touch the ground and start back up again. They buttress the main stem in a way that may have helped it survive Katrina. Also, I recently had to do some pretty severe thinning on a big live oak to get some weight off of a split codominant trunk. If the limbs had been lower I might have been able to support them from the ground rather than chop them off. What kind of union do they have with the trunk? Is it a pretty tight "V" or a nice strong "U"? Any "Included Bark"?


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## treeseer (Mar 15, 2007)

Fireaxman said:


> They buttress the main stem in a way that may have helped it survive Katrina.


True. Before you 'limb up" your trees, think about the effect on stability. 

Hey Fireax, you gonna post "after" pics on that thread?


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## Fireaxman (Mar 16, 2007)

treeseer said:


> True. Before you 'limb up" your trees, think about the effect on stability.
> 
> Hey Fireax, you gonna post "after" pics on that thread?



Yessir. I thought I'ld wait until after spring and let it get the new foliage on. The scar tissue is closing on the split a lot faster than I thought it would, and the cables are holding nicely, so I am optimistic. It made it through several pretty breezy thunderstorms last summer.

But I may go ahead and get some picts for this thread. That tree has several old wounds on it from a home owner's pretty rough handling. It may be interesting to grabroot to see what a live oak can survive.

Treeseer - any idea what is going to happen when the scar tissue from each side of that split meets in the middle? Will the scar tissue include, or will it grow together? (Apologies to grabroot for sidetracking his thread, just this one quick question please.)


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## Dan Dill (Mar 16, 2007)

If you limb the trees and allow additional light to the ground, wil lthe mesquite get as better hold on the growning space?

We have a similar problem here when opneing the conifer stand too much and allowing some invasive hardwood to grow.


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## jomoco (Mar 17, 2007)

*Rationale for pruning Live Oak*



grabroot&growl said:


> The live Oaks are dropping their leaves pretty heavily in preparation for the new growth. We finally are getting some good moisture as we speak, but I need to do some trimming.
> 
> I am afraid I have waited too long to trim heavily on these trees, but would some one give me some advice?
> 
> ...



I question your rationale for pruning any Live Oak in a natural setting. I see that you are in central Texas and therefor assume that the trees in question are Quercus fusiformis and would remind you that they are susceptable to oak wilt disease, this alone is a valid reason to leave them unscarred and healthy.

Deadwooding is as far as I would go, and even that only if there is foot traffic underneath them.

Many customers have requested that I prune their Coastal Live Oaks 
( Quercus agrifolia ) here in California, and I always advise them not to, absent some important over-riding reason such as an identified fault in the tree ( cabling sell remedy ) or root disease ( Armillaria ) in which case I recommend removal if there is a target such as house, road, people or other healthy trees.

Some trees like Oaks are better left alone in natural settings even though the temptation to fatten your wallet is there and beckoning, when your customer realizes that you truly have the best interest of their trees in mind, you'll have a loyal customer that recommends you to family and friends requiring a professional arborist for the care of their trees.

jomoco


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