Canopy reduction tree pruning 

Take the limb back to a lateral branch that is 1/3rd the diameter of the one being cut. This remaining branch will now assume the "terminal role". Utilizing this trim pattern is a proper pruning technique for crown reduction and the best recommended practice.

Very nice. Any knuckle dragger can remove a tree. It takes a little more brains to be an arborist. Sometimes the hardest job is telling the customer "no"

Awesome video Dan. Pruning is something so many people get so wrong. I think there is room for another even more in depth exploration of the topic if you’re up for it 👍

Took me 4 yrs to get my eye in and properly follow the thirds rule. Find maples/sycamores the trickiest. Good video

Great Video on Drop crotch pruning/ Reduction pruning. They came out looking natural. So much better than a large number of trimmers who would just draw a line and head them back.

If you do another video like this, it would be really cool if you set up a camera on the ground to get a time delay shot to see the work as you progress through the tree and try to get a sense of what decision you are making as you go. The trees looked great when you were done.

just popped up again this video, wasn't disappointed good to watch again.

They look great! Thanks for sharing!

I truly appreciate you making this focus video and giving me the full scope of pruning as most tree guys like to record over and over the fun removals.

Nice work Dan, definitely one of the most difficult pruning prescriptions. Be Well

Beautiful job

Glad to see a thoughtful video on tree pruning. Very hard to do in person, let alone on youtube. I do a lot of crown reduction and structural pruning in the type of scenario you show in this video. It looks and sounds like you don't want to make any larger cuts as they would be more detrimental to the tree. This is prevalent in our industry and concerns me because it tends to leave all your final cuts similarly sized and in one small area of your finished canopy. In my experience, not significantly diversifying the size and more importantly the locations of your cuts throughout the canopy when doing crown reductions creates a “starting line & lets race” kind of growth response. Cutting what needs to be cut, no matter the size in order to perform “target pruning” (finding old terminal tips that haven’t died) and using their ability to control regrowth is very effective. Here (San Jose, CA) I only have to prune cherry trees in reasonable scenarios significantly every 5-10 years with a snip here or there in between. Thanks again for taking the time to show and discuss thoughtful pruning!

Nice job, I find pruning always relaxing labour despite of stretching out to the end of the limbs

Great video thanks for all the time you put in for our benefit

My climbing is 95% pruning jobs. And this video is one of the best so far on pruning. I wish to see how to prune a veteran tree. Cause theres a very few info about that 😊

Another great video in the harder aspects of tree work easier to do the job wrong than properly and often harder to convince a customer its the proper way to prune a tree, expecially when most want a telegraph pole with a bird box nailed in the front

One of the most relative video I've watched yet.

Thanks for doing that vid and sharing Dan. Very few out there that show the thought process and what goes into tree pruning. Very different from tree removal. It's a very different view once your up there. I very much rely on my groundie to keep me right in terms of how its looking from the ground. Stay safe ma friend.

You should do a series on pruning with different tree types and scenarios. It's hard to find good instructional videos on pruning.

Thanks for your videos and your in depth teaching on various subjects, I’m recently getting into a lot of pruning, I’ve done tons of removals but one of my customers has a fruit orchard so they selected me to prune there trees, the first time I did it over a year ago I was nervous not sure if I was doing it right, but thanks to you and your teaching I’m learning a lot more and I’m more confident having more knowledge. Thanks for sharing what you know

Another aspect is informing the client a more delicate prune will save them money rather than the tree dying back or producing rapid re growth

Great video buddy. A more in depth video on prunning is needed! Cheers from Canada

Thanks Dan

Nice to see an explanation of a part of the Arborists world that doesn't seem to get covered on RU-vid much, very informative, thank you. I live in Japan and people here will prune trees to a far greater extent than other places that I've seen. You see them and think they won't last a year but drive by in a year and there's a full canopy.

Very good video as usual. I like that you have explained what your doing and how you will do it gives the newer inexperienced climbers a good idea on how to actually go about a full on crown reduction. Trees looked mint! Cherrt as you know can be a bit straggley top job but you didnt need me to tell you that. Cant wait for the next video!

I've never heard it explained so well. The rule of thirds, does this apply to all tree pruning regardless of species? & obviously we're appropriate in relation to job at hand. For example, an Ash, beech, sycamore or oak? When doing a crown reduction and prune do you always use the rule of thirds Dan? I'd really love to see a video in which u show one or 2 complete large limbs/stems that need pruned and reduced, and explain why ur removing each part you cut away. I am not satisfied with my pruning, and I want to learn more.

Great job

Now I respect the pros on my nighbours tree.😂

Good information

Good Video

Nice man! Been loving the content! Thanks for your hard work and sharing.

Nice job!!

Nice job.....do you find your handsaw a little too coarse for those skinny prune jobs? Could maybe do with a finer toothed handsaw myself I think...

looks good!

Hey man like your helmet i was thinking of getting a Husqvarna Technical helmett.

2:11 savage jumping squrrel

Those trees look like they were just starting to go dormant. Was that really a good time to prune? I always hear trees should be prunned before the sap starts flowing; before they come out of dormancy not before they go into it. I always hear if you cut back trees while they're trying to go dormant you cut off the supply of sugars that they would have been able to pull out of the leaves and store in their roots for next years growth. Also in some species you may stimulate them to immediately put out new growth that is then killed off by frost.

Hello Dan, thank you for this video. I was wondering what you do to shorten a branch on a cherry that has no laterals that you could take it back to (or the laterals are only thin fruiting shoots). This is on a 8 year old cherry tree that's about 5m high. It looks nice but we are unable to cover it to protect the fruit from the birds. I used sleeves until now but it's getting too big for that now. The main branches start quite low, at about 90cm. Thank you!

Dan I gotta know where you got that little lanyard for your handsaw, I've never come across ones that small. Great video

Great job Dan and really good video. I thought both trees looked great after finishing. Just out of interest how long did it take you to prune both trees once you started climbing. Not counting the clean up, but just the pruning work.

Hi there, nice video and good pruning choices imo. I just pruned a Liquidambar and a Acer platanoides few weeks ago, but i was not sure about the right season choice. Trees are entering in a crucial stage of the year, loosing their leaves. Could be better, in your opinion, to prune in winter without problems or in full summer (with very less green branches removed of course)?

I don't bother with chainsaws in trees like this, I find silky work just as quick are more fun. Not fun being in a tree with a top handle snagging on stems because when it's a tight squeeze to move around small spaces. Leaves a cleaner cut and more precise.

What month is best

What saw is that? Thanks in advance.

Then the client asks you to cut it down lower

Hi , what helmet is that you’re wearing ?