Talking Trees with Davey Tree
Your trees and landscapes require year-round care, and The Davey Tree Expert Company is here to help provide you with expert advice. Join our professional Davey arborists and gardening-expert host Doug Oster to learn all about caring for your properties. We'll talk about introduced pests, seasonal tree care, tree diseases, arborists' favorite trees, how to help your trees thrive and everything in between. Tune in every Thursday because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer.
Talking Trees with Davey Tree
Can I Prune My Own Tree? Why or Why Not?
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Matt Scott from Davey's Raleigh office talks all about tree pruning, including best practices, safety, ideal times to prune and why a certified arborist is best for the job.
In this episode we cover:
- What can homeowners prune themselves? (0:46)
- Assess if your tree needs pruning or not (1:42)
- Safety while pruning (2:57)
- Teaching clients to prune from the ground (4:00)
- When is the right time to prune a tree? (5:45)
- When to prune an oak or elm tree (7:28)
- The worst things homeowners can do to trees (8:22)
- Have a certified arborist prune your trees (9:24) (20:45)
- The importance of the right tools (10:43)
- Pruning cuts (12:36)
- Fixing bad pruning mistakes (14:40)
- The artistry of pruning (18:15)
To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.
To learn more about pruning and tree care, read our blogs, What is Pruning? Importance, Benefits & Methods of Pruning, Signs Your Trees Need Pruning and our other pruning blogs.
Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
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Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com.
Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!
Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oyster. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer. I'm joined again by Matt Scott. He is a master arborist from Raleigh, North Carolina, the Davy Tree Expert Company. And one of my favorite topics, can I prune my own trees? Why or why not? How are you doing, Matt? Doing well, Doug. Thanks for having me on again. Yeah, excited to talk about uh some tree pruning. So let's start with what do you think homeowners can prune or should they prune themselves? Uh I see, and I'm sure you do every day, see major mistakes made uh by uh homeowners every day.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it you sometimes you get called in after that and you know mistakes are made, or it could be a couple years down the line and things have grown kind of wonky. Um yeah, I I guess the the framework I'd kind of put on it, or maybe a way we can think about it, is you know, uh asking yourself as a homeowner why I want to prune my trees or what I'm trying to accomplish there, and then coming up with a plan on how to make that happen. And you know, finally when to call in a professional or knowing who to look for and whether this is something that that uh needs a little bit more expertise to to handle.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think it's interesting that you bring up, you know, why do I want to prune? Some people just say, like, oh, I gotta prune my tree, but they don't have a reason why to prune. They just think you've got to you've got to prune a tree. Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And most trees should be or or should be on some kind of pruning schedule or need pruning at some point in their life. But you walking around your property, not every tree you've seen you see is going to be need pruned at the time that you're looking at it. Uh, so I think trying to ask what I'm trying to accomplish when I prune my trees, and and there's a variety of reasons to do that. You know, it could be for the health of the tree, to improve the structure, there's some risk reduction aspects. Uh, most of the time for homeowners, I see clearance pruning, or it could just be the aesthetics of the tree. You want it to look a certain way. Although with the aesthetics, I think that's where people get themselves into trouble sometimes because you are limited a little bit on what you can do based on this type of tree or the tree biology, and uh some trees are meant to look or supposed to look different ways.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk safety. I always uh believe that uh homeowners should never leave their feet, should not be on a ladder. Uh leave that for the pros right off the bat. I think that's that's crazy when when I see that, and certainly with any kind of power tool, don't just don't do it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I guess uh we've all probably seen the videos of the extension ladders up in the trees. Uh any anytime you're off the ground, it it adds a high degree of risk. You know, uh a professional is going to come in with climbing equipment, people that have done that before, and with lifts and things that they can get into the trees and and do that safely. Um extension ladders, in particular when you're in a tree, it's dangerous because you're you're up against the trunk, and those branches that you're about to cut off tend to swing back towards the trunk when you do it. Uh, so oftentimes that can hit the hit the ladder and throw people off of there. It it doesn't take a very high fall to really hurt yourself.
SPEAKER_01When you have regular clients, customers, uh, can you teach them how to prune down on the ground with smaller branches just so that they're not going to uh do it the wrong way, expose the tree to problems in the future, or maybe pests or diseases?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's possible. And there's it seems like there's a pretty direct relationship between the size of the tree and whether or not you should prune it. So if we're talking about smaller trees and things you could do with hand tools and from the ground, I think it's possible for a homeowner to do some of that pruning. Uh, the placement of the cuts and the angle of the cuts comes into play a lot here. And you generally you want to place that cut at a branch union, so somewhere where those branches split. Um, yeah, I see there are applications for heading cuts or cuts that are aren't made at branch unions, but I see more often that people will make those as mistakes than actually intentionally doing that. Uh, so if you are a homeowner and you're pruning from the ground, uh pruning things back to a branch union is a good place to start. Um, you know, the amount you take off comes into play there too, because it general rule of thumb, you don't want to take more than 25% of the live growth on that tree while you're pruning. Um, so if you have that goal of you need clearance or you want to reduce the size of it, not taking off too much is is an important thing because you can't shock that tree and end up doing more damage to it than you are helping it.
SPEAKER_01Since we're uh towards the end of the season and trees are going into dormancy, the deciduous trees, let's talk timing. Every tree uh is pruned at a different time. If I start pruning a dogwood today, I am removing branches that are going to flower next year. Same with the rhododendron. Let's discuss timing and when we should prune. And again, isn't is it a case-by-case basis with with each different species?
SPEAKER_00I think a little bit it's it's case by case. Uh maybe a good rule of thumb for people is just trees that flower early in the spring. I would wait till after they flower. So things like cherries and crab apples, I'd put into that that category as well. Because they've they've already formed their buds that are going to be those flowers in the spring. So it it's you're in the realm of it might not do damage to the tree, but aesthetically, you know, that's that's the feature why you have it. So uh you are kind of doing some aesthetic damage to it. It if you have one of those trees and there's a significant reason why you want to prune it, if it's a big dead branch on your cherry tree, then you know that's something that you could prune out. And as far as time, like this time of year, structural pruning and you know, risk reduction pruning for dead limbs is a is a good time to do that. Uh, in the northern areas that you have and in areas where there are certain diseases present, like oakwill, uh, over the winter is going to be a good time to prune those trees because uh those diseases are gonna be a little less active and able to get into your pruning cuts.
SPEAKER_01Well, whenever we discuss pruning, always oaks and elms come up and we wait till dormancy. When when can we officially, you know, it certainly depends on on what climate you're in, but when can we safely prune an oak or an elm? Is it usually done mid-winter, end of winter, or now? What do you think?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'd I'd say we're coming up on that time if you go mid-winter or later and do it before the spring. So you you have you know, maybe a couple month period, depending on your climate, that it would be all right to do that. Uh, you want to wait till the temperatures drop, the leaves are off the trees. Um if if the temperatures are still you know in the 60s or so this time of year, I'd I'd wait a little bit before I start pruning those oaks and those elms.
SPEAKER_01What are some of the worst things that homeowners do to trees?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean you see a lot of stuff out there. Uh uh topping trees and and pollarding trees that shouldn't be pollarded, I'd say is uh at the top of that list. Uh every once in a while I'm driving through a neighborhood and you see a tree that looks like a hat rack. All the buds are off the tree. It just um and and what I mean by that is uh it's it's it's like all the buds are gone. There's no they're not pruning back to those branch unions. A lot of times it's done to manage the size of a tree. Uh, but those new suits that come out, if they come out at all, that attachment is going to be really weak, and you're creating more problems down the road. I around here you see that a lot with the crate myrtles. I mean, we have crate myrtles everywhere, uh, but uh you see a lot of heading cuts and polarding done to them.
SPEAKER_01And this is when I bring up a certified arborist because it's not just homeowners that are doing this pruning wrong. It's Chuck in a truck who wants business and is doing those kind of improper cuts once a year to get money, and that's why we have to have a certified arborist to look at that tree and to make sure that it's pruned right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I get those questions from clients a lot where it's almost like they've seen it done in other places and it's a common enough thing that I think people have the assumption that that's how the pruning is supposed to be done for them. So having someone that's certified and you can ask is this the right way to prune it, or if if your idea of what you want pruned isn't going to be best for the health of the tree, that they can kind of steer you in the right direction, or maybe meet some of those goals, but use a different method to get there. And yeah, that that certified arborist is, I think, uh a big thing. If I was having work done at my house, that's one of the first questions I'd ask the guy that comes out to do the estimate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. So for we'll go back to the homeowners. When they are taught to do it the right way by a certified arborist and they're not leaving the ground, the importance of the right tool, sharp tools, and sterile tools. Let's discuss that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so and uh particularly in places where or or trees that are susceptible to certain diseases. So uh for that disease to move from plant to plant, you have to have the host, the environment, and the timing's got to be right there. Uh, but if I'm pruning like a plum tree or a crab apple, something that's susceptible to black knot, yeah, that's a big one. Uh that disease can move from tree to tree on the pruning tools. Uh so sterilizing it in between cuts, if it's present in the tree or from tree to tree, uh, is important. I mean, the having the right tools to do the job, you touched on sharp uh pruning tools, but uh if it's a handsaw or if it's a bigger limb and you need a chainsaw for it, I mean, it you get a wide range in homeowners, whether they'd be capable of uh using chainsaws to prune their trees. I would steer them away from that and say if it's if it's big enough that you can't get it with hand snips or a handsaw and you need that other equipment, then that's something that you might need to call someone in for. Um, yeah, and there's a lot of different tools out there that you can use to prune branches. I mean, you see things that homeowners will do with different saws or sawzaws or things that might leave like a really rough cut. You know, when you when you make the cut on the tree, having it so there's not a jagged edge, or you want a nice clean cut because that's that's what's gonna heal over the quickest. So even if you put it on the right spot, but say you tear the bark underneath of it because it's a heavy limb and you kind of pull it at the end and it it tears the bark. Well, now that's going to take much longer for that tree to heal over to it, heal, heal over the pruning cut, and you're actually doing some damage to it at the same time.
SPEAKER_01Well, homeowners, if you have to use a chainsaw for pruning, don't get an expert to do it and let's talk about that. I'm glad you brought up that uh breaking the bark off because you see that mistake made all the time where a homeowner thinks, oh well, I'm going to make the cut here, but no, uh a professional will make the cut further out. Let's let's talk about how that's done, and so we don't tear the bark off the tree, and we'd get a good cut.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think this it's one of those little things that as a homeowner you might not think about. It can seem like a small thing, like the type of cut, where you're putting it, the the how clean that cut is, uh, but it can cause a lot of issues. So there's a lot of little things like that that can come up that someone with the expertise is gonna know how to do. So uh in that pruning cut, and and what we're talking about there is if if I start cutting on the top of a branch and I'm going through it, when that cut gets to the the end of the thickness of that branch, uh that the limb farther out has weight on it, so it's gonna pull down on it. And if there's just a little bit left, it can pull down and tear the bark underneath of the cut. So, what uh a professional would do or someone that's certified is make a back cut on the underneath of the branch and then come out a little farther than that to cut off that piece. That way, when you get close to the end of the cut, if it breaks, it's just going to your back cut and it's not affecting parts of the tree that are farther away from it.
SPEAKER_01How about fixing uh bad pruning mistakes? Uh and man, I gotta be quiet about this because I've been out of town and my wife's in the other room. But when I was gone, she she started on the driveway and started cutting, and I'm looking at it, I'm like, oh no, I'm gonna have to go back out there uh and and fix it up because it's all done wrong. So talk a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_00All right, go ahead. Yeah, that's uh uh I'll try to uh to talk quietly for you there, too. I I would say if you notice that those pruning cuts are done wrong, the sooner you get there to correct them, the better it's gonna be. So it sounds like you got a weekend project there, but um, you know, a lot of what I see in bad pruning cuts is um heading cuts that are made, so uh where you're not making it at the branch union. So you in best case scenario there, you end it with a dead stub. So that that stub is going to take the tree much longer to heal because it prevents the branch collar from folding over at the right place and healing the the wound. Um and the worst case, if it's a couple years down the road, you've made a bad cut. And when you make a bad cut, you're you could take away the apical dominance of that branch. So you're taking away all the buds at the end, and you're leaving these secondary bud sites all on the branches. And those secondary bud sites can start to make new shoots. So you can end up with this like really dense growth of new shoot growth, and the attachment on those branches is going to be pretty weak. So it it's both unhealthy on a smaller tree where you have really dense growth, you have less airflow, and as they get bigger and bigger, you can end up with a good-sized branch that's not well attached to the tree. So if you see that kind of cut being made, and it it you might see it often with like clearance pruning. So if I want to clear all the branches away from my driveway, I could go down the edge of the driveway and like a laser line kind of make cuts all down along there. Uh, but those cuts aren't going to be in the right place. You're better off going back a little farther and cutting it to a branch union. So that way the tree can heal over and all the things that we've talked about. Uh, if you do see those improper cuts, just making another cut farther back on the branch that's going to be in the right place, most of the time can fix that problem, especially if you get on it soon after that bad cut's made. Uh, if if the bad cut's made and it it tears some of the bark, like we were talking about with that, that could be a tough one because it it may not be as simple as making another cut farther back. If it if it tears the bark on the trunk itself or really uh impacts the tree in a in a larger way, um it's gonna be a wound and not something that you can just fix with pruning. And in that situation, I lean on things to make sure that we can keep the tree healthy um and help it compartmentalize and heal over those wounds um you know over a period of time.
SPEAKER_01Well, you hit the nail on the head for the clearance pruning, that's what I'm looking at, uh Matt. And as you said, weekend project. Um so I know there are specific rules and science to to pruning, as you've said, but is there an artistic part of this too as an arborist?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it it's that could be the fun part as an arborist. You know, it it's almost like you're having a dialogue with the tree, right? There's the rules to pruning. I mean, we use the ANC 300 standard, like that's pretty common throughout the industry, but those are those rules have within them an area where you can kind of do different things to the tree. So, like we said, you don't want to take off more than 25% of the live crown, but where you take that off and what branches you keep, what branches you're taking off, you know, there is some like art and really fun uh within that. Uh, I like to kind of start with almost like a vision for the tree, or or thinking about how you want it to look, what you want out of that tree, and you know, decide which branches that you want to keep kind of long term, and then start making your cuts uh within that realm and to kind of get to that goal. And it it may be that you want a really specific form for your tree. And if you start that out while it's young and it's growing, you can take little things and get it to form that way uh as it grows and as it matures. Uh the other way to handle that, if you're coming into a situation where the tree is already kind of established, you're gonna be a little bit limited on the form that you can get out of it. But you know, over a period of years, uh you can get it close to that, right? So that's that's that dialogue where the tree's telling you, and within the the standards, these this is what is acceptable or possible, and you can kind of come up with a plan and uh try to get somewhere close to that or or get something that's both healthy for the tree and something that's desirable uh in the landscape. And it's not uncommon uh for me to talk to homeowners and say, look, we're gonna take these branches off this year. It's gonna get towards our goal. But over the next couple years, as we prune this, we're gonna get closer and closer to that because we want to give that tree time to recover in between times that we're pruning it.
SPEAKER_01Well, you've pretty much covered it, but before I let you go, just explain to people what why you should have a certified arborist, at least, at least come out before you start some of this work. If you if you're thinking you're gonna do your own pruning, and this is only from the the safety standpoint from these small trees and small cuts, but but why it would behoove a homeowner to have a certified arborist come out and and look through everything, look at safety, uh, and and maybe help them make some decisions about the cuts.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that certification should signal that the arborist who has it has the expertise and the education. Uh, and there there are levels to that too. So you baseline you want the ISA certified arborists. There are board certified master arborists, or if you're talking about hazard trees, you might look for someone that has that tree risk assessment qualification as well. And those are all just signals to you as the homeowner that this person actually knows what they're doing and knows what they're talking about. Uh, because it is it it pruning trees can be a dangerous business. Um, you know, it as that tree gets bigger and bigger, the weight that you're dealing with gets much bigger and much bigger, and the equipment that's required to handle those also gets more and more intense and and um serious. So uh having someone that's certified is going to know what they're looking at and be able to come up with a plan for the work. Um, you know, I would check that credential, I would check that they're insured. Um, I would also just kind of talk to them about what the plan is for the work. And you know, as a homeowner, some homeowners are tend to be very involved with the work and want to know how it's gonna happen. Some homeowners don't. I think I would at least want to know that the arborist I have has a plan for how that's gonna happen and uh how they're going to impact my property, what the trees are gonna look like after they're done. And you know, there's a a wide variety of people that you can find to do tree work, you know, the the chucking ducks, like you say, people with a chainsaw and a pickup. Uh, but you want to know who's coming to do your work. That that certification signifies that there's some level of professionalism to it. Uh, you know, and and I'd say when looking at vendors, you know, going with uh a national company, you're gonna have national standards for the work and some repeatability to the process. There are some good local companies, but you may not know what you're getting unless they are you know credential. I mean, that's what's nice about Davey 2 or the employee-owned company, so the guys all have a little bit of a stake in it when they're they're coming out to do the work.
SPEAKER_01Well, great advice as always, Matt. Uh, I enjoyed talking pruning with you, and uh as always, uh uh learn something every time. So thanks so much for your time. Thanks for the information, and I'm sure we will talk again soon.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Yeah, sure thing, Doug. Uh it was nice talking to you as well. Uh, thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER_01Okay, fellow tree lovers. I want you to tune in every Thursday to this Talking Trees podcast from the Davy Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oester, and as always, I want you to subscribe to the podcast so you'll never miss a show. And I want to know what we should be covering on this podcast. There's a couple ways to reach us. Send us an email to podcasts at Deby.com. That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S at D A V E Y dot com. You can also click the link at the end of our show notes to text us a fan mail message. Your ideas can be on a future show, and we'd love to hear from you. As always, we like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast. Trees are the answer.