Old timer told me I was pruning too heavy on oaks

Guy with 40 years in the business watched me clean up a red oak last spring and said I was taking off too much live wood. Cut back from removing 25% to about 15% on mature trees and the regrowth this year looks way better. Anyone else get schooled by a veteran on something basic?

3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

3 Comments

rubyk862mo ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? @umathompson I've seen plenty of oaks bounce back fine from a heavy prune, so maybe the old timers are just set in their ways.

3

the_joel2mo ago

Jumped in with the same thing on live oaks a few years back. I was taking 30% off and calling it a "restoration prune" until an old guy told me to stop trying to fix everything at once and just take 15% max per year. Tried it on a massive old live oak and the difference was night and day. Way less sucker growth and the tree actually looked fuller the next season. It's humbling when someone who's been doing it longer shows you a better way.

2

umathompson2mo ago

Man that part about "stop trying to fix everything at once" really hits home. I did the exact same thing on a couple of old oaks when I first started, thought I was being helpful by taking off a ton of deadwood and crossing branches all in one go. Ended up with those crazy water sprouts everywhere and the tree looked stressed for like two years. It's weird how hard it is to slow down and trust that less is more, especially when you see a tree that looks rough and just want to fix it all right then. Hearing stories like yours makes me feel better about my own learning curve, honestly. Glad the old timer set you straight before you did too much damage.

3