Tree Service

Quality Tree Pruning

A Homeowner’s Guide to Do’s and Don’ts by David Lusk

Large tree properly pruned.

DO:  Maintenance Pruning

Properly pruned trees have a natural appearance. The professional arborists at Lusk Tree are knowledgeable of the growth patterns of specific tree species, their sun light requirements, and the branch shedding patterns of free standing trees and trees growing in groups.

Trained in the techniques of modern tree pruning, we treat the tree as a living system. Quality pruning enhances tree structure, health and appearance. We have learned and respect the natural growth characteristics of trees.

Our work – to maintain their health and appearance, while making them safer for people and property when pruning to clear buildings, streets and sidewalks.

Basically, tree pruning is the removal of dead, dying, damaged and/or diseased limbs. The precise placement and number of cuts are extremely important when working to preserve old trees. We work with an awareness of how trees naturally shed limbs. By eliminating dead, dying and diseased limbs we eliminate entry points for bacteria and decay fungi. Moreover, a professional arborist knows the correct “dose” and placement of cuts when living branches need to be removed.

An arborist works in the arena of these large, living structures in a manner that respects the holistic interplay of sunlight, soil, and branch growth. Done properly, tree pruning is one of the most beneficial treatments for our old trees. Below is a properly pruned willow oak at Hanes Community Center. We renovated the trees on this property by carefully removing dead, dying and diseased limbs; a result of these oaks having been topped sometime back in the 1980s. Much of our work is corrective pruning of trees previously damaged by either storms or chain saws.

Lusk Tree crew removes storm damaged limbs from one the largest white oaks in North Carolina that is located at Tanglewood Park's Manor House.

DON’T: Topping and “Lion Tailing”

DO NOT equate tree pruning with topping, “rounding over”, “shaping” or severe crown reduction. Tree topping is detrimental to tree health and structure.Below are severely topped maples at a local shopping center. The result – severe internal decay, a shortened life span, and structurally weak sprout growth.

An example of tree topping.

Outdated and still advocated by some, tree topping and over pruning are the most widespread abuses in the modern landscape.

While tree topping (at right) is not as prevalent as it once was in our community, another “epidemic” has begun to surface in the form of over thinning, over pruning, or “lion tailing.” This involves the excessive and needless cutting of living limbs and sprouts in the interior of a tree’s crown, leaving only tufts of foliage on the end of branches. Often as much as 50 to 75 percent of tree foliage is removed.

This unfortunate practice is becoming as common place in our community as tree topping was 15 to 20 years ago. Numerous large willow oaks and white oaks are being severely over pruned by workers wearing pole climbing spikes – insult to injury. If it looks unnatural, or over-thinned it probably is. The result is unhealthy and structurally weakened trees. Below is an example of over pruning or “lion tailing.”  Too much sky not enough foliage! Trees need leaves to survive!

An over pruned "lion tailed" oak.

For quality pruning, call us at 336-924-5911 or Contact Us.