Raising the crown - implications of ignoring structural pruning

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Poor structure develops on trees that are raised, as this tree has been, over a period of years without structural pruning. Two codominant stems emerged from just above the lowest part of the crown on the young tree to the left (stems hidden by the foliage). These weakly attached stems are able to hold together on this young tree because the parts are small. However, twelve years and a couple of raise prunings later (right), the entire crown was growing from these long, weak codominant stems which has an inclusion in the union. When raise pruning is conducted without structural pruning, growth is forced into both stems equally forcing them to grow very tall. The tree has weak structure, and is more likely to break apart as it gets larger. It is imperative that structural pruning be conducted along with raising, especially on young and medium-aged trees.

Raising crown home | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Young tree	Same tree twelve years later

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