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Had a talk with an old timer about pruning cuts last week
This guy who's been trimming trees since the 70s told me I was leaving stubs on purpose because I was scared to cut back to the collar. He showed me a codominant branch he fixed 10 years ago and the tree healed clean - made me rethink every cut I've done this season. Anybody else get caught doing the whole "safe cut" thing out of fear?
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miller.paul4d ago
Ten year healing? That's wild man.
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miller.susan15h ago
...but honestly, I think people lean way too hard on what some old timer says like it's gospel. Tbh, leaving a stub on purpose is sometimes the better move depending on the situation, not just fear. Ngl, cutting right to the collar every single time can actually mess up the tree worse if you're dealing with a big limb or a species that bleeds heavy. I've seen trees get shocked and die back from a clean cut at the collar way more often than from a stub that rots off slowly. Not saying the guy's wrong, but I wouldn't toss your whole method just because one dude had a good tree from 10 years ago.
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alicebarnes3d ago
Did he mention anything about how the type of tree changes the rules? I've noticed maples and oaks heal totally different even with the same cut method, so that "one size fits all" advice from old timers might not work on every species you run into.
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