proper pruning 75' tulip

[68 Buick]

Ya i worked at bartlett before it was even bartlett i worked for jim then he was bought out by bartlett along with urban tree care and I'm not sure where rich came from but he was also a salesperson their when i worked their. The office is in imperial now when i worked their it was in crafton close to shemmins nursery.

ya thier main business is pruning and thats 90% of what i did for them for years and I've just never heard or seen anyone do anything like this nor would it be acceptable. i did a lot of mount lebanon oaks i think people would get killed if you did something like that to one of their trees.

I worked at the Lebanon branch for a little while myself. It's been a long time but I believe the one guys was Norm Brenner ( I think ) and the managers name was Lou.

 

[PassionForTrees]

Hey Im all for trying to promote proper tree care and showing how it's done, but I have a couple issues with this one and Im open to get all of your replies back. One - as others have mentioned the stubs?? come one that's a no no. as Pelorus said it, decay one way or the other. Now if a tree is healthy and has good uptake and is in good health it should be able to compartmentalize most wounds unless of course they are so big in diameter and may take many many years if ever to close up, thus introducing decay. The pruning the long lateral ends to reduce the weight thus crown reduction here on this Tulip is a bit too much in my opinion, The lateral branches need to maintain the terminal role, if you take away too much of that you will just sucker out and introduce decay anyway along with epicormic weaker branches / suckers that get big. Reducing the ends on a much smaller scale and then selective thinning and cleaning is all you can and should do, it's like topping is back right!! well so is topping sideways if it's taken that much back and worse leaving stubs and not the 1/3rs rule at least. Now it's nice to have a tall reach bucket sure is but if you are driving on the root zone of the tree your compacting the soil and roots, Matts were used I hope to minimize that, and a great climber will get all those cuts made even better than the video, but a good climber may not get out as far which isnt needed anyway.

 

[FanOFatherNash]

tulip tip prune .mov - YouTube

Here's the latest effort at promoting proper pruning technique... It was originally intended to inform homeowners about good pruning and the harm that improper pruning can do.. A bit repetitive but overall a good low budget effort.

I have another one coming, which was shot right after an early snow storm did a lot of damage, as many trees were still in full leaf..

 

[FanOFatherNash]

What do you do when they call you to " properly prune a 150' tulip poplar "
75' bucket with 75' pole saw?

 

[Zale]

All you new posters are going to get Murph riled up and you don't want that. If he chimes in, this thread will go another 14 pages.

 

[treeclimber101]

I just watched that painful 6 minute video again ....... It just dawn on me that he basically trashes all other companies ! I have never heard that man say a kind word about another company ! I wonder how he is doing in life

 

[rtsims]

I just watched this vid for the first time and here are my thoughts, feel free to take them or leave them. I completely agree with the theory of limb tip reduction, weight reduction, and wind sail but... Many of the cuts in this vid are heading cuts (cutting limbs to a stub or lateral not large enough to take the role of apical dominance). Also, pruning cuts made at a branch collar even on those small 1-2" limbs are best for the tree. That is where limbs are shed naturally. Not saying Murph does, or does not do good work but if your going to make an informational vid on proper pruning the least you could do is show proper pruning. Also drives me nuts when company owners promote there work by comparing it to another companies "bad work".

 

[Menchhofer]

Just another example of how people on this site cannot filter their comments properly. Like a bunch of immature kids here.This is the main reason why most veteran members have left and gone elsewhere.

I personally agree with Murph and support his work and the video. He is just relating his personal experiences and expertise via a video. You guys are like a pack of wolves just waiting for the chance to get in there and tear off a piece of the meat.

 

[treeclimber101]

Well maybe the truth is the truth ! Maybe the members here can be just a bunch of agreers who are like robots ! God knows there are plenty of those forums !

 

[Pelorus]

Just another example of how people on this site cannot filter their comments properly. Like a bunch of immature kids here.This is the main reason why most veteran members have left and gone elsewhere.
I personally agree with Murph and support his work and the video. He is just relating his personal experiences and expertise via a video. You guys are like a pack of wolves just waiting for the chance to get in there and tear off a piece of the meat.

I disagree with the work and the video. Take a look at page 44 of the Feb 2014 TCI magazine...the photo, with these accompanying words: "...this once great elm was severely cut back to reduce the weight of it's canopy. Sadly, too much canopy was cut back in one season. The tree never recovered..." (In spite of that inconvenient sadness some here vehemently disagree with the ISA prescribing percentage limits like 25% foliage reduction; presumably because they don't need to follow no rules)
This business (Murph's vid or otherwise) of making heading cuts is bogus arboriculture to me. The cut limb sprouts (who woulda thunk it?) and those damn sprouts grow and grow (like nature intended) and in a couple of years the client gets to pay you to go play God again rebutchering the poor tree. To make it "safer".

 

[NCTREE]

I disagree with the work and the video. Take a look at page 44 of the Feb 2014 TCI magazine...the photo, with these accompanying words: "...this once great elm was severely cut back to reduce the weight of it's canopy. Sadly, too much canopy was cut back in one season. The tree never recovered..." (In spite of that inconvenient sadness some here vehemently disagree with the ISA prescribing percentage limits like 25% foliage reduction; presumably because they don't need to follow no rules)
This business (Murph's vid or otherwise) of making heading cuts is bogus arboriculture to me. The cut limb sprouts (who woulda thunk it?) and those damn sprouts grow and grow (like nature intended) and in a couple of years the client gets to pay you to go play God again rebutchering the poor tree. To make it "safer".

I have to disagree with that, if the cuts are made properly then sprouting growth is redirected to the inner and lower section of the tree not where the cuts were made. Some trees can handle a heavy prune(>25%) I think poplar is one of them, and old elm maybe not so, you must use good judgement. I am not promoting reduction cuts as an everyday way to prune but in some situations it's the only option.

 

[Pelorus]

I understand the benefit of promoting growth to the inner part of an older tree, but when you have latent buds, or epicormic buds or whatever you want to call them located where the limb got reduced, (cause you headed them back to a small limb or nodes, right?) won't they sprout? I hope they do, otherwise those headed back limbs may really disagree with the haircut by, like dying, or decaying.

 

[NCTREE]

Small cuts back to a healthy lateral no bigger than 1" to 2" is key. I've had a chance to see first hand damage from the recent ice storm that hit the area it's funny how all those trees that were overly crown raised or thinned out sustain most of the damage. The trees that survive with no damage were the trees that were never pruned or had tip work(not topping) done to them.

 

[Pelorus]

"Actually, many studies have shown that the outside limbs can divert some wind from the center of the tree and act as a buffering shield. Aggressive thinning, on the other hand, can make the remaining branches more vulnerable to failure; left isolated, these limbs must take on the elements alone. Pruning out a major portion of a tree’s canopy for the sake of staying upright during a wind storm harms most trees in the long run."

excerpt from an article published by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

 

[Pelorus]

Only posted that as a counterpoint to selling a client on making a tree "safer" by thinning it.
Gotta confess I find this "proper pruning" biz a bit confusing. Seems like a convincing case can be made either way. Strong enough wind is gonna bust up a tree whether or not it has had some limbs amputated or partially amputated, or not pruned at all.

 

[treeclimber101]

Safest thing for a tulip is reduce it about 75' and then reduce it about 12" below the dirt line !

 

[kyle goddard]

Am i the only one that seen the wires by the trunk cuts? Op can you elaborate on that for me.
Bty a climber can get out on them tips. Srt the $h!t out of that tree.
Also how far in can you prune with a bulky bucket? Just saying buckets have limits, as do climbers.
Looks like a good tree to tag team the pare. Get it pare. Lmao
so corny

 

[teamtree]

I hear alot of talk about proper pruning but in all honesty....how much pruning is done to satisfy the customer's want more so than the health of the tree or safety of customer. Anything more than pruning a deadlimb is unnecessary or improper but yet we all make money doing it. Almost every time the customer tells me to trim it like it is mine and I walk away and don't do anything, they get upset.....even though I did not charge them anything.

 

[Zale]

Am i the only one that seen the wires by the trunk cuts? Op can you elaborate on that for me.
Bty a climber can get out on them tips. Srt the $h!t out of that tree.
Also how far in can you prune with a bulky bucket? Just saying buckets have limits, as do climbers.
Looks like a good tree to tag team the pare. Get it pare. Lmao
so corny

Please, do not wake the beast. You know not what you are doing.

 

[jefflovstrom]

What do you do when they call you to " properly prune a 150' tulip poplar "
75' bucket with 75' pole saw?

You must of been thinking of something, but it did not come out in your post.
Please elaborate.
Jeff