Key word in pruning is 'judicious'

A crepe myrtle that has been pruned incorrectly. Photo by Darrell Blackwelder, for the Salisbury Post.

A topped river birch is unlikely to recover from the severe pruning. Photo by Darrell Blackwelder, for the Salisbury Post.

A witch broom crepe myrtle. Photo by Darrell Blackwelder, for the Salisbury Post.

Cooperative Extension receives numerous inquiries about pruning trees during the fall and winter months.

Generally, winter is a good time to judiciously prune trees. Landscape crews and tree removal companies are busy cutting away trees from power lines. Unfortunately, many trees have been severely topped and will die within a few years.

Topping or "horning back" shade trees is not a recommended arboricultural practice to reduce hazards for homeowners. Actually, it's probably the number one cause of death of large shade trees in the county. Not only does it ruin the natural beauty of the tree, it induces significant stress through water loss, lack of foliage and insects and disease. It's also an expensive procedure that reduces the value of your property.

A dogwood or Japanese maple may grow from 10 to 30 feet in its life as compared to an oak or an ash that may grow up to 80 feet. Many want to limit growth of a large tree in an effort to reduce any type of damage to nearby homes or structures.

Topping mature trees such as oaks or maples only weakens the tree. A "witch broom" effect occurs when topping some tree species such as crepe myrtle. In addition to being unsightly in the winter months, the branching habit is weakened and subject to limb breakage.

However, in some situations, judicious pruning is recommended, such as pruning out weak, dead or decaying limbs. Removing water sprouts, tree limbs that hang over a roof or gutter, branches that interfere with mowing, etc. will generally not impede growth, as well as judicious pruning to shape a tree. Using a chain saw to cut limbs off a tree that results more in a "Gumby" than a shade tree is not what arborists recommend.

Contact a certified arborist to evaluate your trees if you are somewhat skeptical of your tree knowledge. The National Arbor Day Foundation site, http://www.arborday.org/trees/NineNum1.cfm provides more detailed information about topping.

Darrell Blackwelder is an agricultural agent in charge of horticulture with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. Call 704-216-8970.

http://www.rowanmastergardener.com

http://rowan.ces.ncsu.edu

www.rowanextension.com