Tree PRuningTree pruning is the process of strategically cutting parts of a tree away in order to stimulate growth, prevent or stop the spread of disease or deadwood and have a tree looking it's best. While superficially tree pruning sounds similar to tree trimming they are distinctly different practices with different aims and therefore somewhat different methods.
The major difference between tree trimming and tree pruning is that tree pruning is first and foremost to promote the health of a tree while tree trimming's goal is to have an already healthy tree look a certain way. Tree trimming in fact can be as extreme as practices like pollarding in which a trees is methodically and carefully cut over time to encourage it's crown to grow into a characteristic torch shape, as well as topiary or horticultural living sculpture, where trees and shrubs are trained to develop and hold specific shapes via clipping, trimming, cutting of time. Where tree pruning does have any aesthetic goal or guiding principle it is perhaps that in tree pruning the natural shape and growth of the tree in encouraged but given a direction that aims at a certain goal. One good illustration goal of tree pruning is in crown thinning. Tree crown come in a wide variety of shapes sizes and orderliness or disorderliness, depending on the kind of tree and an individual tree 'personality'. Though the average person doesn't spend much time thinking about it, and it can be hard to see on the ground, no two tree are the same and cannot be pruned the same way. This is nowhere truer than when it comes to a tree's crown. The crown of the tree is the top part of the tree with branches that furcate out from the main trunk of the tree. There are several common tree crown shapes, rounded, upright oval, columnar, vase-shaped, weeping, spreading, and free form. Now with some trees the tree's crown is too dense or full. Branches may grown so dense that sunlight and air do not penetrate the crown effectively as a result inhibiting the trees growth inhibiting the growth of other parts of the tree. What happens is the smaller newer branches take away nutrients from larger more established parts of the tree. Tree grow in relation to the sunlight, air, water and soil nutrients available, not necessarily optimally for their longevity. In crown thinning a professional arborist gets into the canopy and removes select branches to reduce the density of the crown. In doing so he also shapes the crown by removing branches that are too close to each other, do not have good structural strength, or are crisscrossing other branches. This brings out the trees natural shape which may be one of the above mentioned. Crown thinning also mitigates one of the greatest hazards with trees which is falling branches from a strong wind or storm. Because almost all trees have the most branches in their crown, proactively pruning the weakest and structurally most susceptible is a good way to keep a tree but also keep property and people safe. |
|