The 5 year old oak I took down still haunts me

I used to think pruning young trees was mostly just cosmetic, you know, nip a few branches and call it good. But after seeing a before and after on a 5 year old red oak I planted in my own yard in Dayton, I changed my mind completely. I left a co-dominant stem on it for way too long, and over 3 years that weak V-crotch split during a spring storm and took out half the canopy. Now I look at every young tree's structure like it's a ticking clock, and I'm way more aggressive with early corrective cuts. Anyone else have a tree failure that completely shifted how you approach young tree care?

2 comments

2 Comments

eva_lewis6d ago

Man, that really hits home. I had a nearly identical situation with a young maple I was too nice to for years, and after a bad ice storm, the whole thing just split right down the middle. It definitely made me way less shy about taking a saw to young trees. So when you spot a V-crotch on a 5 year old tree now, are you taking out the whole weak branch, or just heading it back to try and save some of the canopy? I'm still trying to figure out that balance for myself.

oliver2426d ago

Just heading it back" on a V-crotch is a mistake I've made too... it'll just keep splitting further down the trunk eventually, so you really gotta take the whole weak branch off at the collar.