How Big is too Big???

[ezm]

houston, tx. i have a 35 year old live oak in my front yard. i've owned my house for 5 years. the previous owners didn't do a great job pruning the tree. i now have 2 large branches (boughs) that are each about 30 feet long on opposite sides of the tree that practically do nothing - they each have a rather small clump of leaves at the ends of them and nothing else - the rest of the tree canopy is above these 2 boughs.

the tree diameter at about 3 feet above ground is only 24 inches. one bough diameter is 12 inches, the other is 14 inches. the boughs both start (branch from the trunk) at about 4 feet above ground. the rest of the tree (comprising about 95% of the canopy) branches out above these 2 boughs.

if done well, can i remove these 2 boughs without killing or seriously hurting my tree? if so, should i remove them in the fall, and should i wait 1 year in-between removing each of them?

thanks!!!
ezm

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

What's the reason to remove them?

 

[uniballer]

Hard to be sure without pics, but it sounds like removing these limbs will create large wounds that will be difficult or impossible for the tree to heal over in any reasonable time. Maybe you should get a qualified arborist on-site to check it out.

 

[full chizel]

Pic would really help. If the branches need to be removed I would not do it until fall.

 

[ezm]

thank you for the responses. the boughs seem healthy, as does the rest of the tree. it's just that the tree is growing more sideways than upwards, and it's bumping into my house and the neighbors' trees. i have to keep pruning small branches at the ends of these large boughs, and it seems like i could take care of several issues by just removing the boughs. but that sounds like it would be too detrimental to the tree. i'll call an arborist out if i want to pursue this any further. does anyone here recommend an arborist (not just a professional tree trimmer) in the houston area?

 

[Marine5068]

houston, tx. i have a 35 year old live oak in my front yard. i've owned my house for 5 years. the previous owners didn't do a great job pruning the tree. i now have 2 large branches (boughs) that are each about 30 feet long on opposite sides of the tree that practically do nothing - they each have a rather small clump of leaves at the ends of them and nothing else - the rest of the tree canopy is above these 2 boughs.

the tree diameter at about 3 feet above ground is only 24 inches. one bough diameter is 12 inches, the other is 14 inches. the boughs both start (branch from the trunk) at about 4 feet above ground. the rest of the tree (comprising about 95% of the canopy) branches out above these 2 boughs.

if done well, can i remove these 2 boughs without killing or seriously hurting my tree? if so, should i remove them in the fall, and should i wait 1 year in-between removing each of them?

thanks!!!
ezm

Need to see some pics of this tree please.