I want to tell you how much I've appreciated these videos. As a new woods owner I want to educate myself and you provide information in such easily understandable way. Thank you.
No, in truth we should minimize the amount of pruning that we do to trees. Trees will prune limbs naturally when the limbs are no longer receiving much direct sunlight. Thanks for your kind support!
If you must prune a large branch is there anything that can be applied to the wound to help healing or protect from insects? Growing up I often saw people paint the wounds after cutting off branches.
The general consensus is not to apply any salve/ointment to the wounds as it can hinder the tree's natural ability to seal the wound. The exception might be on a very large wound on a very old and declining tree. Instead, you may want to periodically spray the wound during the spring and summer with an insecticide to avoid contamination from insects.
