How Do You Properly Cut Off Branches

mikefoxo

What's the best way to cut back boughs if they are damaged or have a fungus on them? i.e. to look after the health of the tree as a whole. What sort of a face would you leave on the butt of the branch (or would you leave a butt at all)? Is there anything you could put over the "wound" to stop possible infection?

Oldtree

mikefoxo wrote: »

What's the best way to cut back boughs if they are damaged or have a fungus on them? i.e. to look after the health of the tree as a whole. What sort of a face would you leave on the butt of the branch (or would you leave a butt at all)? Is there anything you could put over the "wound" to stop possible infection?

Target pruning, see here for the some info:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/Images/Guidance%20notes%20on%20tree%20pruning_tcm6-3677.pdf

do not apply any paints etc to the wound as they are detrimental to the trees recovery from the pruning.

if you post a picture we can give you some more advice.

WoollyWoman

Just prune the branch the way you would normally. Remove dead and diseased wood being careful not to damage the collar. The wound should heal by itself with no need to treat it with anything. Trees have natural barriers they put up to prevent infection. Check out Teagasc's Silvicultural Guidelines for more information. You can get it on their website and has good practical advice.

mikefoxo

Oldtree wrote: »

Target pruning, see here for the some info:

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/Images/Guidance%20notes%20on%20tree%20pruning_tcm6-3677.pdf

do not apply any paints etc to the wound as they are detrimental to the trees recovery from the pruning.

if you post a picture we can give you some more advice.

I'm not referring to any tree in particular, it's just we have a good few trees that are well over 100 years old. Some get blown down, some get big branches pulled down that leave terrible gashes on them, and you see the odd one that has water running into a little crevice in it which then starts to rot out. I'd just like to take some preventative measures if I could.

Oldtree

mikefoxo wrote: »

I'm not referring to any tree in particular, it's just we have a good few trees that are well over 100 years old. Some get blown down, some get big branches pulled down that leave terrible gashes on them, and you see the odd one that has water running into a little crevice in it which then starts to rot out. I'd just like to take some preventative measures if I could.

You could do more good than harm mike and old trees are not to be taken litely by an amateur, they will bite you. I can only recommend that you seek the advice of an arborist, anything less would be bad advice. These people can let you know who your local arborist is:

http://www.goodwin-arborist.com/

Oldtree

WoollyWoman wrote: »

Just prune the branch the way you would normally. Remove dead and diseased wood being careful not to damage the collar. The wound should heal by itself with no need to treat it with anything. Trees have natural barriers they put up to prevent infection. Check out Teagasc's Silvicultural Guidelines for more information. You can get it on their website and has good practical advice.

Thay sound like big trees Woolly not to be messed with.

mikefoxo

Any serious jobs I'd leave to the pros. I'd only consider branches I could reach from standing on a trailer. I wasn't too good at climbing trees when I was a nipper!

TomOnBoard

mikefoxo wrote: »

Any serious jobs I'd leave to the pros. I'd only consider branches I could reach from standing on a trailer. I wasn't too good at climbing trees when I was a nipper!

+1