Cutting tree branches in summer and early fall (during the growing season) can be particularly damaging because it stimulates new growth in the tree. Having new growth right before the tree enters its natural dormancy can cause decay, disease, and premature death.
Spring flowering trees should be pruned after flowers have dropped. To avoid the introduction of disease pathogens to oaks and elms, avoid pruning between April 15 and October 15. Prompt pruning of storm-damaged limbs and dead branches should be done to encourage wound closure and avoid potential hazards.
Pruning during the growing season always stimulates new growth. During summer's heat, having to produce that ill-timed new flush of growth greatly stresses a tree. Pruning in the fall is even worse as it prevents the tree from going into a natural dormancy. The exception is heavily damaged, disease or dead wood.
If you notice that your trees aren't growing as well as they should be or are losing foliage, it's possible that you've pruned them too much. Additionally, an increase in interior sprouting indicates over-pruning, which is when they grow sprouts internally rather than on the tips of limbs.
An over-pruned tree loses vitality because it doesn't have enough foliage to generate the food it needs. Therefore, the tree will take some time to recover, and while it does so, it puts its energy into sprouting a new canopy from the top of the tree. These may be scraggly but leave them alone.
Pruning is supposed to stimulate growth, but when the plant loses too many branches—especially at the top—it can expose it to sunscald, starve it of nutrients it gets from leaves, and force it into shock by trying to overcompensate for its loss. Regrowth should be a more delicate balance.
First, keep your pruning cuts as small as possible. With young trees, if you keep your cuts to under ¾ inch, generally they will heal in a single growing season.
Some bad pruning examples include: Stub Cuts: These cuts leave a branch stub that prevents the tree from sealing the wound to protect it from diseases. If you can hang something off the end of a branch, it's an incorrect pruning cut.
The preferred remedy would be to hire a Certified Arborist to repair the damage by removing excess branches and shortening others. A corrective project such as that is likely to require 3 years or so with the goal of returning the trees to a normal growth pattern.
The closer to the tree's trunk roots are cut, the more significant and harmful the damage will be. The 25% Rule – Never cut roots beyond 25 percent of a tree's total volume. The tree may die or fall as a result of this.
Generally, pruning trees in the summer is not recommended. During the summer months, most trees are still very active and growing. Trimming during this time could discourage new growth for the next season.
How much can you trim off a tree without killing it? You don't want to remove more than 25% of the foliage from a tree in a single year. Removing too much foliage or too many branches at once could damage your tree beyond repair.
A proper pruning cut minimizes the damage done to the tree and allows it to heal quickly. An improper cut like a flush cut (cutting too close to the trunk) or a stub cut (cutting too far from the trunk) can cause irreversible damage to a tree.
Weakened Growth: Late pruning can cause the tree to produce weak new branches that are more susceptible to breaking. Increased Risk of Disease: Cuts made late in the season might not heal quickly, leaving the tree vulnerable to diseases and pests that can enter through the wounds.
Help slow growth
Summer is a good time to prune if you would like to slow the growth of a tree or branch. Pruning reduces the the total leaf surface, which reduces the amount of food produced and sent to the roots.
Pruning in autumn and winter could potentially damage the plant, as it can unbalance the root to shoot ratio during a period when it is too cold to regrow. The best time to prune is after flowering.
Trees can suffer from tree structure damage when large amounts of foliage are removed, disrupting the delicate balance between the tree's roots and canopy. This can weaken the tree, making it more vulnerable to improper pruning consequences such as disease or structural failure.
Arborists have a 1/3 rule that suggests the branch you trim back to should be at least 1/3 the diameter of the stem it is attached to.
Shock and Stress: Over-pruning shocks the tree by removing a significant portion of its foliage, disrupting its ability to photosynthesize and feed itself. This weakens the tree and makes it more susceptible to diseases, pests, and stressful environmental factors.
The 1/3 rule involves cutting about 1/3 of wood during any pruning activity. This kind of moderate pruning is like giving your shrubs a good balance – it thins them out a bit and encourages new growth.
Generally, a deciduous tree's recovery can span from one to five years following pruning. The tree's size during pruning, the degree of damage from pruning, the tree's health before pruning, and the environmental conditions afterwards all contribute to the recovery period.
Make proper cuts to insure the health and longevity of your plants. Use the three-cut method when removing large branches. This prevents trunk damage caused by the weight of the branch ripping it and the bark off the tree. Make your first cut about one foot away from the trunk.
How to fix it: If you have a shrub or tree with branch stubs, you need to remove the stubbed-out branch all the way back to the trunk or cut back to the nearest healthy lateral branch. If pruning is done early enough, new buds will develop near the cut for the following season's growth.
However, if the choice is between this and an asphalt product, vaseline is the better option. Still, we would reserve this as a last resort and only use it on evergreens that produce much sap, like pines and spruces. The vaseline won't affect these trees as badly and is highly effective in stopping sap loss.
Yet the process of pruning is often necessary to form a tree's branch structure or remove damaged or diseased wood. Since pruning cuts create openings in the wood for insect and disease to enter, it feels helpful to apply a tree wound dressing or sealant after pruning.