[pburns]

Roadways are getting closed in a little in spots, scraping the 4x4 and tractor. Plantation in about 11 yrs. I have a couple of spruce that I'd like to trim up to bonnet level and some alder and ash I'd like to trim up to about 5 feet.

I've done this before to a degree but is there a danger I'd leave the trees more susceptible to disease or damage? Is this the best time of to be doing such tasks or should I wait until the autumn/winter?

[greenfingers89]

id say the disease risk is relatively low but still a risk. other thing is growth impairment, which mightnt really matter if these trees will be some of the first out in thinnings to improve future access further

whatever about the exact recomendations, id generally try and prune/shape ash september and october but i have done it in november and december on occasion. id say alder would be quite similar but havnt ever thought about it as its not pruned on a commercial basis. spruce id have the least worries about but id say november december january and it wouldnt bother me too much if twas february

your probably best to seal the ash cuts to try stop future rot and some epicormic branching, having said that if they didnt have good potential to produce high end products i wouldnt be terribly pushed either.

try and keep just outside of the branch collar on the ash to help it close the wound as quickly as possible

[Oldtree]

The optimum time to prune trees is winter, second best is summer. Spring and autumn are not optimum times to prune, simply as the tree is preparing to shut down or start up again.

Target pruning is simple to do and entails not damaging parts of the trees' defence mechanisms. simple diagram here.

http://www.tlcfortrees.info/natural_target_pruning.htm

Target pruning is easy to remember. look at your hand as the stem and the thumb as a branch. Do not cut or damage the knuckle at the base of the thumb (branch coller) or the wrinkle of skin between the thumb and hand (branch bark ridge). Remove weight of branch before final cut.

Sealing of the wounds with paint or tar or other substance is no longer practiced as generally worse than useless, see Shigo 1986 and others since. see brief outline here:

http://essmextension.tamu.edu/treeca...t/tree-wounds/