Improper pruning? Unneeded topping? Consider talking to a certified arborist | Sally Scalera

Have you ever witnessed trees being pruned by men with a truck, ladder, and a chainsaw? For everyone who needs a young tree pruned to produce a good structure (which is very important for live oaks) or to have a mature tree’s canopy thinned, I can’t stress enough how important it is to use an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist. Improper pruning is harmful to trees and, in severe cases, can lead to the death of the tree.

Just in case you ever need the services of a certified arborist in the future, keep this article in a safe place for future reference. All certified arborists must pass a lengthy, difficult test, and to maintain that certification, they must accrue 30 CEUs (Continuing Education Units) every three years. Many professional certification programs require CEUs to recertify, which is important to keep everyone current on the latest research.

There are many things that a tree service might recommend that could be detrimental to trees, and here are just a few of them:

• Don’t let anyone convince you to top your tree. Topping is where the large branches and main trunk are cut, leaving large diameter cuts with no foliage remaining. Other names can be used instead of topping, so be on the lookout for these: stubbing, hat-racking, heading, topping-off, and heading-back. More could be written about how topping harms a tree, but to sum it up, most of the trees that are topped are often cut down within a year.

• I just discovered a neighborhood where the oak trees were “moderately topped” which is an oxymoron and still harmful because the tree structure has been damaged! The other tragedy in this story is that oak trees should have never been planted anywhere in that neighborhood because the trees don’t have enough rooting area (which is a minimum of 30’ x 30’ for a large growing tree that grows 50 feet or more) to support their large grow both below and above ground.

• If anyone tells you that the interior branches should be removed, leaving bare branches with the only foliage at the ends of the long branches, tell them no. That is called “lion’s tailing” and there are multiple reasons this is harmful to the tree. Often, too much of the canopy is removed at one time and the tree produces water sprouts to try and replace the excessive amount of foliage that was removed. Another problem is that all the weight on the branch will be located at the very end, which can result in the failure (breaking) of the branch.  Lion’s tailing will also cause the tree stress during hot summer days because it is only the interior foliage that can photosynthesize when the outer foliage gets too hot. The interior foliage also stores carbohydrates in the limb where its growing, which helps to strengthen the branch.

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Here are a few more items to remember when looking for someone to prune your trees.

* Certified arborists have all the work they can handle and don’t need to go door to door. People who aren’t arborists may solicit tree work at your door, pointing out a condition that needs “immediate attention” or the “tree will die.” If a tree is close to death, the cause of its demise will not be due to a lack of pruning.

* Quality tree work will not be inexpensive. A good arborist must carry several kinds of insurance and pay for expensive and specialized equipment. Plus, the certified arborist will have costs associated with continued training for recertification. If you own a live oak tree that can live for hundreds of years, begin proper pruning at a young age to ensure good structure.

* Young trees in the growth phase produce abundant new growth each year. These trees may require heavier pruning to create a good structure or correct poor structure, such as a codominant leader. The next phase is the maintenance phase. In this phase, the tree's new growth is moderate each year. The last phase of a tree’s life is the death phase. Depending upon the tree species, the death phase could last a few years or decades. During the death phase, the tree will begin to drop branches, produce less foliage (canopy), generally shrink in size, and the trunk will get wider.

* A clear sign that a branch was pruned off incorrectly will be a flush cut to the trunk. Certified arborists will prune the branch just outside of the branch collar so the tree can compartmentalize the wound to provide protection against insects and disease.

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For everyone who loves trees and wants to keep them healthy and safe, don’t trust your tree to anyone who isn’t an ISA certified arborist.  For a current list of certified arborists, visit treesaregood.org/findanarborist/findanarborist.  In the "Search by Location" box, click the down arrow, select the United States, and click Search. On the next page, enter your zip code, choose 10 or 25 miles, and click Search for a list of local certified arborists. The search will produce a table, so look down the third column to identify arborists who run a business that could come tend to your tree.

Trees provide numerous benefits, such as the oxygen and food they produce, the shade they provide, and the increased property values they create, so care for them as the assets that they are. If you have trees in your yard and you have any concerns about their health, consider hiring an ISA certified arborist to evaluate them. Proper care will ensure they live a long life.

Sally Scalera is an urban horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Science.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Proper pruning, tree-topping horrors and other tips to grow on