Crown Reductions
Correct Pruning techniques
In most cases, the crown cannot be correctly reduced in size to the desired height and certain genus of trees like like Beech seldom react very well to crown reduction.
Overzealous pruning of trees to give the required effect can begin to cause rot in the main stem or limbs and encourage vigorous epicormic growth that fills up the crown as it rapidly grows back to its previous size.
Removal sometimes may be the only cost effective choice. When a client wants to reduce the height, canopy reduction is a much more tree friendly alternative than to topping.
Reduction of the canopy shouldn't be utilised to decrease the odds of a tree blowing over during adverse weather. Crown Thinning is a much better option protect against storm damage in an otherwise mechanically sound tree.
Crown reduction can be an option when the roots of a mature tree has notable decay making it a potential hazard or on a tree with historical or sentinmental value.
The aim is to prune back so that the greenery is left intact on the outmost edge of the new intended canopy ideally, cuts should not be visible when you stand back and look at the the tree after pruning.
Topping is not an appropriate technique for decreasing the size of a tree because it can destroy the tree’s form and can cause rot.
It is recommended that when taking off more than 30% of the crown, that you think about splitting the project in two sections, roughly 12 months apart to decrease epicormic growth and starch removal from the tree.
To decrease the size of a tree with appropriate pruning cuts, we shorten the limbs that reach beyond surrounding limbs. This helps to keep the original shape of the tree. The tree is simply made smaller.
The longest parts of the main limbs will be reduced to an already present, smaller lateral limb that is big enough to take on the role of the lead limb. This is usually a third to half the diameter of the reduced limb.
Epicormic growth alongside die back or rot often happens when you cut back to a limb that is not big enough. It is not possible to expect more than about a 15-20% decrease in crown size from a crown reduction that has been done right.
How are crown reductions carried out?
Crown reductions are not a task to be taken lightly and involve a considerable amount of skill and knowlege to be done correctly by a skilled tree surgeon while inflicting as little harm to the tree as possible.
Our trained tree cutters have the skills, knowlege and resources to execute a crown reduction with the precision and skill that the job requires.
This can be done through tree climbing or through the use of access equipment such as hoists, cranes and M.E.W.P's
Contact a helpful member of the treeworX tree surgery team today to assist you with chosing the right approach for your tree including arboricultural reports, planning and work methods to find what works best for you.
Reducing a trees crown distresses a tree because of the pruning method required. Unlike thinning out, reducing a crown does not keep the trees natural outline, this means that rot can travel quickly within pruned branches, because of this it is preferable not to instigate a reduction of the trees canopy if at all possible.