Vertical Techniques Urban Gardener

Pruning: Maximize Your Resources' Abilities to Contribute to the Landscape

In the following sequences I prune a variety of trees to promote sound structure.

Pruning a large White Pine for structure.

The large and low branch that is trying to overtake the established top needs to be slowed down.  I will nip its leader in the bud!

This large White Pine (Pinus strobus) anchors the landscape.  It has the potential to contribute to the landscape for hundreds of years into the future.  If it is cared for properly it will develop good structure and will be an asset.  If not, it could become a liability as it matures.

Here is a view of the finished product (the big White Pine is all the way to the left.)

The following sequence of photos shows pruning young Sugar Maples (Acer sacharum) for structure.  These trees were allowed to go unpruned for a few years longer than I would advise.  However, all is by no means lost.  They should respond well to their prescription and ultimately serve the landscape quite well. Note:  I would encourage anyone with Sugar Maples to consider tapping them. 

The following series shows the result of the pruning prescription.  

The following picture shows a young and storm-damaged American Elm (Ulmus americana).  There are plenty of arborists who would suggest removing it.  I will prune it and show that it can still contribute nicely to the landscape.

The result of the pruning prescription was this.

During the operations characterized above we removed material from the trees.  It adds up!

Pruning your trees is not only a good thing to do for your trees, it also allows you an opportunity to utilize the material produced from pruning to make compost and grow food.  The plants that contribute to our landscapes could provide so much more for us if they were utilized to their fullest. Look at all of the material that was produced in the pruning outlined here! 

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