Pruning

[MartreCycle]

Did some pruning of young oaks in August - approx 6ft tall-

why - to take out forking /lost leaders

why now ? - in August - some reading has suggested mid to late summer - and also in January - why - well that is the question

For trees in general - the only consistant guidance is not in Apr /May when the trees are in full growth mode

There seems to be an idea that tress should be pruned when they can heal the wound - hence winter might not be the best time ?-

also added to the mix -does tree species have a bearing on pruning time ?

As there seeem to be some experienced wood folk on this forum -

I would welcome their views and reasons - thank you

[Stephen1]

Most species can be pruned in winter - easiest time to do 'cos no leaves so easy to see exactly what's going on (possibly a slight advantage to the tree in terms of stored energy when the sap is down).

The only two species you need to be careful of are;

wild cherry - which must be done when the tree is growing fast i.e. early summer other wise very prone to fungal infections such as silver leaf

Walnut - mustn't be done in spring as sap can sometimes flow from cuts for weeks depleting tree of vital sugars etc. I suspect this is really only a problem for young trees (can be a slight issue for birch and sycamore according to books but I've not found it a problem in the long run)

Of course there is no point in wasting hours of your life pruning trees if you're not controling squirrels!!!

[RichardKing]

The BTCV guide "Tree Planting & Aftercare" says

" The best time for pruning Oak, Ash & Cherry is between mid June to mid August"

"Other species can be pruned at the same time, or between September & December."