Oh that felt good, except when topping the most upright leader which I hope can be better explained with follow-up. Now this young tree will continue to look better and better and better. Here in Chicago we'll come back next spring and air Spade trunk flare back to original birth grade.
means the inappropriate pruning practice used to reduce tree height by cutting to a predetermined crown limit without regard to tree health or structural integrity. Topping does not include acceptable pruning practices as described in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) "A-300 Pruning Standards" and companion "Best Management Practices for Tree Pruning" published by the International Society of Arboriculture, such as crown reduction, utility pruning, or crown cleaning to remove a safety hazard, dead or diseased material. Topping is considered "removal". Reducing the height of a central leader that is one inch or less in diameter on a young tree IS NOT TOPPING. It is crown reduction and structural pruning. A central leader that is one inch or less in diameter can heal its wound, so that when a new top or tops form out of it, they will not be growing out of a trunk comprised of rotten heartwood with a only a thin shell of sap wood thus increasing the possibility of the new top breaking out when it gets larger if it is hit by wind, ice or whatever. This is arboriculture 101. All of my cuts were made just above buds that will become the new apical meristems in the direction that I want the tree to grow. Not only this, as you can see in the video, before I started pruning this tree, the central leader was very tall, thin and flopping over. Had it been allowed to grow tall without encouraging its supporting trunk to grow thicker, in due time it would have likely broken out due to a weak structure due to a trunk that was too thin to support it. Again, this is arboriculture 101 and should go without saying. As per the definition of topping above, this formative pruning IS NOT deleteriously hurting the tree presently or in the future, but helping it that it can grow taller and stronger in the long run. Moreover, any honest, knowledgeable and experienced aesthetic pruning arborist knows that there are times when the no topping rule has to be broken for the greater good of the tree, the property and personnel under the tree. Granted, this is a rare situation, and this subject is seldom discussed by the pruning "experts" and other pruning primadonnas to there, but we all know it's true. But this is a whole other discussion for another time. There is an exception to nearly every rule in life. Finally, my pruning techniques are inspired and informed by the Japanese bonsai and niwaki pruners who are the best aesthetics pruners in the world and who have been doing this for a 1,000 years. Your argument as to the legitimacy of my pruning style is not with me, but with them. Please go and learn from the Japanese. Blessings to you and thank you for giving me the opportunity to educate.
