Pruning Techniques
| Crown clean Crown raise Crown reduction Crown thin |
Clearance pruning Corrective pruning Structural pruning Palm tree pruning |
Crown clean
Crown Clean is a pruning technique and is to include the following: (1) remove dead, broken or diseased limbs 1 inch in diameter or larger; (2) remove rubbing or crossing branch; (3) if two limbs (1 inch diameter or larger) originate within 12 inches of each other on the truck, shorten or remove one of them. (4) Remove weakly attached branches along with suckers and some water sprouts. Do not remove all water sprouts and do not remove only interior branches.
Use directional pruning where possible to future growth is directed away from buildings and lights.
Although small-diameter limbs may occasionally be pruned to gain access into the tree, it will not be necessary to make cuts smaller that 1 inch in diameter, other than where branches may be shortened to accommodate clearance beneath the canopy.
Do not strip out the interior foliage leaving only live branches at the ends of branches.
Crown raise
Crown Raise is a technique to increase ground clearance to by underpruning.
Many trees are over-pruned when the canopy is raised (top right). After proper crown raise, a good goal is to have foliage on branches in the upper 2/3 of the tree (bottom). Live crown ratio should be at least 60%. Small-diameter branches left on the lower trunk for about a year pruning help close pruning would and protect the tree by providing shade to that region. They also help hide pruning wounds.
Crown reduction
Crown reduction is a pruning technique in which the appropriate laterals are cut back (nothing larger than 1/3 the diameter of where the branch is attached) to reduce the height and/or width of a tree.
Canopy reduction makes a tree smaller by removing the end portion of branches with reduction cute (lower right). Inappropriate reduction uses heading cuts and can result in more problems later (lower left).
Crown thin
Selectively remove limbs to increase light and air in the tree’ canopy, and to reduce wind sail. Thinning shall be conducted by removing branches from the parent branch.
“Lions-tailing” shall not be performed. (Lion-tailing is the practice of removing only the inner branches closet to the trunk on a parent branch and leaving the branches located toward the end of the parent branch.)
Do not remove more than 20% of live foliage unless indicated otherwise.
