An approach to pruning you won't forget By: Dr. Ed Gilman

A dominant leader is healthy, but not seen much in the forest. I like to see branching at least 8 ft from ground. No one is that tall. Trees are more attractive when they are allowed some natural growth structure. Clearing deadwood and reducing congestion with colliding inner growth and length of limbs is normal maintanance. Unfortunately too many tree "experts" continue raising the canope without managing
growth inside and furter out where branches rub and cross each other and add weight overall of branches. Wind should be able to pass through crown because reduction cuts are periodically made. If not the top of tree is pushed and stressed toward breakage. See recent Tulsa windstorm damage. On top of months of drought, thick crowns resulted in toppling trees.

I fail to see how cultural pruning "methods" trump science. Are we against being woke in proper forestry practices?

I don't see how method can be eliminated from the procedures. Type of cutting impacts tree health and stability. Is there consensus on the new standards? Are these benefiting the health of our trees?

Believe the paper on drought stress pruning and fungi was by Boddy and Rayner 1984.
(Not "Bodie" as your voice generated transcription indicates.)

Thanks for your fine presentation.

brilliant, i appled everything i learnt today at work and I had one of the best work days ever.

multi stem trees really are a structural nightmare

How do I perform a reduction cut on the trunk where branches are thin?

I inherited trees from the previous owner, and I am not looking to replace them right now.

Tree: Coastal live oak
Goal: reduction cut to remove tallest 1/4th - 1/3rd branch/trunk.
Issue: Branch thickness is too small compared to trunk thickness. Same issue with a couple of other branches. It is my understanding that when performing a reduction cut, the smaller limb should have at least 1/3rd the thickness of the limb you are going to cut. My concern is if I cut a thick branch/trunk, a smaller limb might not become a leader from the cut area, and instead, shoots will grow from the cut.
How do I handle this?

Another interesting and really useful lecture Dr. Gilman. I wonder if a few more objectives might be considered in light of heat islands in urban areas and climate change more generally and these might include: cooling, carbon sequestration and increase in wildlife (biodiversity) which might be just as or even more important than clearance etc. and aesthetics. So making sure especially older and large-stature trees are pruned in a way for more leaf production (for cooling and CO2 absorption), for pollution filtration, water filtering, and also as habitat for birds and insects. These goals aren't discussed much in urban forestry by tree pruners and pruning experts but why not? Especially since in some places there are more birds in cities (and even these populations have dropped by 50% since the 1990s) than in rural areas (which tend to be large industrial farms now). It would be great if pruning was seen as but one facet of tree care, where these other goals are just as important in urban areas.

I Seem to be the only one trimming with mostly reduction cuts instead of removal cuts out here in SLC, it makes it very hard to make reduction cuts when the limb is heavily lion tailed.

Thanks for this. Enjoyed it v much. You might talk to some Australian foresters like Peter Marshall of Braidwood truffle farm. He knows all about drought and pruning, fire risk mitigation etc.

1st question of the Q&A: Look into Antoine Bechamp's research regarding terrain theory. The plant itself contained the building blocks of all its diseases, just like all life. The sub-cellular entities that polymorph into little cleanup bodies to handle injuries and poor living conditions of the organism.

Visalia rules!

Somebody share this vid w whoever is in charge of butchering roadside trees. I "twig" when I see a tree w a giant, V-shaped hole cut out of the middle, like funneling from the top of the crown down, so telephone lines (lol electric wires, whatever) can pass through

What a great presentation. As a total beginner, I have learned a lot about the type of pruning that will help the tree's shape and growth. I have 3 small trees planted 2 years ago. I hope I can apply that teaching in my own garden. As an artist, I recognize this is indeed an art! Thank you

My only question remaining would be regarding the spacing of the branches along the trunk. Does that still applies in formative training, or do we just worry about reduction cuts, keeping a central leader, branch diameter ratio and general form of the tree?

Tree love

I recently purchased a house on four acres; three acres of it is backyard woods that's a mess. I have small trees growing next to medium trees growing under large dominant trees. Crowding is everywhere and many big trees are dying ( kudzu vine doesn't help). Some of my pruning starts at the trunk. ☹️

Do not cut in a drought. Dieback is severe due to drying out of wood.

What a wonderful video. I'm an up coming arborist and am very excited every time I learn and it pays off in a deal of experience in a short about if time.

Question? Is the amount of cuts and the diameter size for description purposes only? Or is that also a counting method to charge?

I was under the impression that a removal cut is when you cut the larger limb even if it does not terminate at the trunk.

Awsome. Thank you for sharing! 📝

Trees grow so different in different areas. There are so many variables when it comes to pruning a tree correctly. This culture of pruning a certain amount of branches a certain size I think is horse shit. I think it is a culture geared toward making profit. You want to prune a tree correctly get in that fucking tree. You need to see everything. Things that you can't see from the ground. These wind test are inclusive in my opinion. To many outliers. Using a nursery tree. That is a joke. You need to test 20 plus trees from one nursery and 20 plus from another nursery to have credible data. I develop friendships with my clients explain to the. That pruning is a long process. If they want whats best for the tree we prune a little. See how the tree reacts. Then prune again. What works on on live oak does not necessarily mean it will work on another.

Thank You for sharing.

Fantastic webinar. Thank you for such valuable information.

So weird I live in visalia California where those two trees are pruned

Thank you guys for sharing us these videos back days we hadn't the opportunity to get into l grew up in the trees l dropped out of school to become a tree climber since l was 16 now am 40 and l think is time to get my contractor license or at least being a certified tree worker cause am getting older and l would like to spend the rest of my life trimming trees cause is in my blood the way of life the way to survive thanks again everyone to make this possible att. Robertogomez god bless you.

Is direct pruning that is done by utilities done because of a five year pruning cycle or can trees be managed by not doing such aggressive pruning? They pretty much destroyed by crimson maples. The pruning was done by a tree service without any management by an arborist.

This is exactly what I wanted to know but didn’t understand how to articulate.
This is really good stuff!

Thanks Dr. Gilman and USU!

Breath of fresh air to here you talk and teach. I have been pruning for 18 yrs and I've come to this way by being attentive. As far as pruning in drought conditions, I have been thinking on it and you see some info on summer pruning but to me a lot of open cuts the tree is going to transpire too fast through the cuts. I am going to read your stuff to make sure where I am at in my own knowledge. There are cultural differences but there is a right way still.

Hey Dr. Gilman just wanted to say thank you for your research, I look forward to going through your presentations, and I will be getting your book on pruning. I did want to add something to one of the questions you answered as far as stress stimuli acting on a tree, you noted wind, ice, and snow as factors. I was curious about fruit or seed yield as well, I have seen many walnuts and sweet gum come to mechanical failure because of these factors, I understand this could be a combination of the stresses and weak union. Lastly I wanted to know if you had any good references or direction for thoroughly and properly recording research. Thank You