Pruning Pecan Trees 

anytime you plant a bare root tree you know what to expect if you plant a seed it may not be the same type that you planted do to root stock that produced that pecan or grafting as the case my be this can happen any time you plant a seed

It also helps to not goof the back cut by making it too shallow or failing to ensure that its kerf edge is parallel with that of the main cut. I think the latter is what happened here, when our presenter was in an awkward position and failed to make the cut edges parallel, so there was still a triangular prism of uninterrupted wood left when the stump came down. This uncut prism is what gave way by tearing away from the rest of the wood.

Lop off the top every year. Cut it shorter than you want it to be during the summer. If you want a 15' tree then cut it to 10'. It will grow vigorously in the spring.

It will always try to grow up. You will have to trim it every year.

How short are we talking? Do you want to produce pecans eventually?

Look up ‘espaliers’ ... This is the practice of pruning and tying selected branches to a lateral line (pole, wire, etc,). This design is most often used with flowering fruit trees. Production is often very high and keeps tree growth at a manageable height to pick fruit. With a Pecan tree, I would guess one would need to allow plenty of lateral growth to be absorbed/contained. I’ve thought about trying this as I have a large city lot... but don’t want to shade my apple and peach tread.

Some of the general principles apply, but there are significant differences between pruning a pecan and other fruit trees. For one thing, pecans are so much larger than other fruit trees so the approach is somewhat different. Peach trees, in particular, are not grown with a central leader as pecans and other fruit trees are. Dr Parker has some excellent videos on pruning peach trees on the NCSU Peach Portal (peaches.ces.ncsu.edu). There is also a very good publication on pruning fruit trees (content.ces.ncsu.edu/training-and-pruning-fruit-trees-in-north-carolina) which can help you with pruning as well. I hope that helps!

@@lindaburns7477 Thank you for the detailed reply!