Why does nobody talk about how bad big pruning cuts are for trees?

I was talking to an old timer named Bob at a job site last week, and he told me I was wrecking a maple by making cuts bigger than 4 inches across. I always thought flush cuts were fine if you seal them, but he showed me this tree he did 10 years ago with small cuts that healed clean while another guy's big cuts rotted out. Made me rethink everything I learned in my first year. Anyone else had a mentor call them out on something they thought was standard practice?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicea264d ago

Bob definitely saved me from making the same mistake. I had a guy named Mike show me a 6 inch cut on an oak that was still weeping after 8 years, completely hollowed out inside. Switched to never going bigger than 3 inches and my trees look way healthier now. Its crazy how different the long term results are.

oscarh164h ago

Eight years is a long time for a tree to leak sap but that cut also might have just been in a bad spot or the tree was already sick. Seems like a lot of people swear by that 3 inch rule but I've seen plenty of big old pruning cuts that healed up fine in a few seasons. Maybe some trees are just more dramatic about it than others.