Little Trim for some Bradfords?

[Okie294life]

I’m a newbie to actually trimming trees, I’ve cut or otherwise butchered several in my day, including being guilty of crape murder….I have a few Bradfords that need to be cut back before they end up falling apart. Any general advice on how far to, and how far to cut them back?

 

[lone wolf]

I’m a newbie to actually trimming trees, I’ve cut or otherwise butchered several in my day, including being guilty of crape murder….I have a few Bradfords that need to be cut back before they end up falling apart. Any general advice on how far to, and how far to cut them back?

No more than 1/3 of them as a rule .

 

[Okie294life]

Thanks I’ve got 3 trees so I’ll leave two of them alone and cut the other one down….j/k. Thanks for the advice. How about thinning them? I’d like to do that too.

 

[lone wolf]

Thanks I’ve got 3 trees so I’ll leave two of them alone and cut the other one down….j/k. Thanks for the advice. How about thinning them? I’d like to do that too.

Thin the smaller stuff off the larger ones a little bit to lighten it up for snow dont go crazy.

 

[ATH]

In the latest ANSI standards they removed the term "thinning" because anything worthwhile can be accomplished with a more specific description. Too many people cut branches just to say the tree was thinned with no real end goal in mind. I know that is not what you are asking because you have a specific goal. Just an FYI...

Without seeing your trees, but having seen more than a few Bradford pear trees, you are most likely looking for "structural pruning". https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/structural-pruning-flash.shtml

*Identify weak codominate joints and either reduce the weight on those or remove them
*Branches should be no more than 1/3 of the diameter of the trunk where they are attached. If they are larger, reduce or remove.
*See if you can identify a central leader and get more sunlight to that.

All reduction cuts should be back to an acceptable branch union, never topped.

 

[capetrees]

and then there's pollarding

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding

 

[Okie294life]

and then there's pollarding

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding

I think that’s what I did to my crapes, not knowing grew back with a few moose knuckles where the new branches shot out. I have to trim them back also so lesson learned there. They definitely look like crap once the foliage is off.