Structural pruning southern live oak

Why prune | Tree structure | Pruning cuts | Prune at planting | Structural pruning | Sub-standard pruning | Is pruning needed
Raising the crown | Thinning the crown | Reducing the crown | Pruning home page

Before pruning	After pruning
The crown was growing very wide and was drooping into the way of traffic. Branch and trunk structure is good (but hard to see in this photo) due to two previous structural prunings.	The crown was lifted or raised to provide clearance, and many branches were shortened with reduction cuts to reduce crown spread. This will force more growth into the leader which is visible to the top of the tree. Upright growing stems were reduced back to laterals with reduction cuts to slow their growth. Reducing growth rate on all branches that will eventually be removed (i.e. those in the lower two-thirds of the present crown) to create clearance will keep them small. This is good for the tree because only small wounds will be created when they are eventually removed.

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