How About This Thin/Clean Job?

[Menchhofer]

Here is pic of maple we did today...before

 

[Menchhofer]

Before again

 

[Menchhofer]

And the after number 1

 

[Menchhofer]

Sorry, and the After No. 1

 

[Menchhofer]

And after No. 2 and final

 

[MasterBlaster]

GM and MM would love it.

I mighta took out a tad bit more.

 

[TreeJunkie]

Did you do anything/?? Looks pretty weedy from the pics...

 

[Menchhofer]

Yes, very fine line between correctly pruning and too much. This maple contained mostly deadwood and small broken limbs. Much of the pruning I did with hand pruners.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I approve. Any more would be too much. Good work.

 

[jkrueger]

I would have done a little reductive pruning at the upper tips. Seems to stringy. Not the trees natural shape.

And it aint bonsi.

thanks for the work,
Jack

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

i think you carried out a good job..looks good to me

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by jkrueger
I would have done a little reductive pruning at the upper tips.

Copy that, considering species. Those tips will be heavy and swinging; some branches will sprawl and whip without reduction.
MM, after considering this, what do you think?

 

[Dadatwins]

Thanks Guy for mentioning this about cutting tips. I mentioned this on another thread same type of tree but only one person noticed and agreed and I was wondering if this was frowned upon pruning method now. I was taught especially on these soft maples ,silver,red,ect. that it was better to tip them back a little to reduce long stringy limbs and promote more interior growth. Not promoting topping at all but think some tipping cuts a few feet back especially on this type of tree and considering old heading cuts would be helpful to tree. Am I way off here or is this not accepted any more?

 

[rbtree]

I agree with the light tipping back, or perhaps a bit better, just some lightening of the heavier growth, emphasizing working near the tips, and keeping good apical dominance. All part of a good crown restoration program....no problem with removing 15% at a time of total live canopy on a vigorous tree like this.

 

[Toddppm]

I don't get why you would cut the tips back Wouldn't that just thicken the ends and make them even heavier. they're heavier from the topping and don't look natural because of the flush of growth, forcing another flush at the tips won't help this will it? Is that a Silver Maple? hard to see in the pic.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Dadatwins
more interior growth. Not promoting topping at all but think some tipping cuts a few feet back especially on this type of tree and considering old heading cuts would be helpful to tree. Am I way off here or is this not accepted any more?

"Tipping" is a term in disfavor; Shigo preached against shortening limbs too much and used that term. Toddppm, I don't think light reduction cuts will force a flush of growth at the ends of this tree. Slanted cuts to good nodes should leave a natural-looking tree.

Reduction cuts are entirely proper in many cases, but the very idea can provoke some passionate objection from one corner of WI. Search the archives and you'll come up with stuff like this:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10602&highlight=Reduction+Pruning

On arborists.com there were similar debates; I get exhausted just thinking about them. Glad that many here see the usefulness of lessening sprawl.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

It depends on how much you take back to a latteral Todd. I might have done a little to reduce the number of codoms forming, maybe cant really say.

I cant see that you've done anything to the tree! What am i paying you for?!

Great job Steve. Less is allways better.

 

[murphy4trees]

This all helps validate a point I've made before...
Pictures are a hard medium to illustrate proper pruning...
Or maybe the rule of thumb should be if it doesn't look like you did anything, then the tree was well pruned... I guess you'd need a pic of all the brush before chipping to show what all was actually removed...

 

[Menchhofer]

Interesting to see the differences of opinions on the thin/lcen pics.

I have decided, pictures on the net anyway, do not truly illustrate the true degree of the pruning. The more I look at the before and after pictures, the more I cannot see the lost details of the "in person" view. Example, from the pics I can see how some of you would want heading cuts off the top. But in reality, the top of the limbs averaged about 2-3 inches. Overall, considering the tree was topped, it does not look too bad.....now. More work is needed down the road.


Whenever I am finished with a thin job I try to bring the customer out and show them what I have done. Almost everyone "sees the difference" even if it is slight....

I had one customer say "you did not do anything to the tree". I said "thank you very much, I appreciate the compliment." Anyway, to make a long story short he refused to pay and I took him to small claims and actually WON and received PAYMENT.
(I did not spent 3 hours in his tree doing nothing!)

 

[Dadatwins]

Originally posted by Guy Meilleur
"Tipping" is a term in disfavor
Reduction cuts are entirely proper in many cases

So if I am understanding this my term"tipping" is not acceptable but practice of reduction to tips on certain species might be proper?
As I read through thread that was posted and doing some searching I can't help notice a lot of terms used sometimes mean the same and are understood by some but incite near riots in others. What a fun business this really is