Best time to trim trees?

alchemist33

I need to cut off some small, lower branches on trees because they're getting in the way of the lawnmower. Nothing big at all. I've seen different times of year on the internet so far. What would be the best time to cut them? Thanks in advance!

Doctors room ghost

I'm the same.nearly lost an eye and a rib last year with a fcukin apple tree.its getting its lower limbs cut this week when I get the time along with ten more of its buddies.
This time of year is fine as far as I know cos they are dormant but even if not I'll get the bastid this week

Wanderer78

alchemist33 wrote: »

I need to cut off some small, lower branches on trees because they're getting in the way of the lawnmower. Nothing big at all. I've seen different times of year on the internet so far. What would be the best time to cut them? Thanks in advance!

what type of tree is it? i cut our trees sometimes this time of year, leylandii, copper beach and Japanese maple, this could be the worse thing in the world to do, but trees are still there

magicbastarder

winter is generally the right time to trim trees, with a few exceptions (cherry, plum, etc - hard stone fruit trees).

alchemist33

Wanderer78 wrote: »

what type of tree is it? i cut our trees sometimes this time of year, leylandii, copper beach and Japanese maple, this could be the worse thing in the world to do, but trees are still there

A whole mixture, some of which I don't know. There's sycamore and ash anyway - they all look native.

Accidentally

alchemist33 wrote: »

A whole mixture, some of which I don't know. There's sycamore and ash anyway - they all look native.

Perfect time of year for these two. Get it done soon, before the sap starts to rise.

Harry Palmr

January is as good as it'll get for pruning branches.

MacDanger

I have a tree at the front of the house which tends to block light into the front room in the evenings during the summer. It's around 4-5m tall currently and the trunk is ~10cm diameter, would it be okay to just cut this at around 2m? Or would I damage the tree irreparably?

Harry Palmr

Well you'd not kill it assuming it was done cleanly. Would reducing it to that height decapitate all the lateral branches? Would you be left with a stump?

New Home

What kind of tree is it?

MacDanger

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Well you'd not kill it assuming it was done cleanly. Would reducing it to that height decapitate all the lateral branches? Would you be left with a stump?

No, there are branches all the way to ~ 40cm from the base of the tree

MacDanger

New Home wrote: »

What kind of tree is it?

I don't know to be honest, I only moved into the house a few months ago

New Home

Would you be able to post a photo of it?

MacDanger

New Home wrote: »

Would you be able to post a photo of it?

Yeah, will try to get one later on. It's deciduous and it's not ash, sycamore or oak. It could be birch or beech but I can't even remember what the leaves look like.

MacDanger

Here are a couple of pics

New Home

Looks like a beech.

I'd say such a big tree would suffer if you were to cut it like you say, but I can see it'd have no room in a front garden.

MacDanger

New Home wrote: »

Looks like a beech.

I'd say such a big tree would suffer if you were to cut it like you say, but I can see it'd have no room in a front garden.

Cheers. I guess I'm as well cutting it now as in 5 years time as it's not going to get any smaller!

Harry Palmr

I'd remove everything lower than 10 feet, take the laterals in and lop off one third of them - you'll notice they are clustered. This will certainly allow more light esp early/late as the sun sets.

You really cannot "top" a mature deciduous tree and chopping it back to a few meters will create a mass of growths which will spread with vigorous growth pushing up and outwards.

This gives you an idea

MacDanger

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I'd remove everything lower than 10 feet, take the laterals in and lop off one third of them - you'll notice they are clustered. This will certainly allow more light esp early/late as the sun sets.

You really cannot "top" a mature deciduous tree and chopping it back to a few meters will create a mass of growths which will spread with vigorous growth pushing up and outwards.

This gives you an idea

Okay, I'll give that a go so. Thanks for the help NH & HP

magicbastarder

you *can* chop the tree as you mention (down to 2m), it's called pollarding, but the look quite likely will not appeal to you. it'd be slightly odd in a suburban garden.
just be aware that a beech will grow to be a large tree, so if it's obtrusive now, it will continue to get more obtrusive.

Roen

As much as I hate seeing a tree go it might be best to take it out. Beech also have a habit of dropping branches, and some of those branches could easily grow to larger than the trunk currently is.
I'm not sure on how the roots will interact with the wall/path either. No expert on beech.

MacDanger

It's a rental house (owners living abroad) so while we have reasonable leeway in what we do with the garden, I'm not sure they'd be too happy with us chopping it down completely (although longer term that seems like what needs to happen)! I'm going to prune it as per the advice above and see how we fare out over the summer.

Harry Palmr

Just a word on pollarding - apart from being ugly (IMO!) once you've done it the cropped result has to be maintained every year, if the sprouts are allowed to develop they'll weaken, then kill the tree.

magicbastarder

yep, and especially since the OP is a tenant, not an avenue i'd suggest s/he goes down.

standardg60

You just need to remove all the lower branches flush with the trunk as high as will let the light in underneath. This is called raising the canopy.

monkeynuz

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Just a word on pollarding - apart from being ugly (IMO!) once you've done it the cropped result has to be maintained every year, if the sprouts are allowed to develop they'll weaken, then kill the tree.

When you say the sprouts will weaken and kill the tree, how do you mean? If you let anything grow from the stumps?

Harry Palmr

monkeynuz wrote: »

When you say the sprouts will weaken and kill the tree, how do you mean? If you let anything grow from the stumps?

Yes, the right hand image in the picture above shows the growth pattern.

Read this which explains it well

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.arboristnow.com/news/Pruning-Techniques-Pollarding-vs-Topping-a-Tree&ved=2ahUKEwj12oHT_vHfAhVUUBUIHTcnBUYQFjAZegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw1o1dtZGnptSgl9jD89sq8n

El Tarangu

magicbastarder wrote: »

you *can* chop the tree as you mention (down to 2m), it's called pollarding, but the look quite likely will not appeal to you.

+1


Pollarding is the norm for trees in public spaces where I live - I think it looks desperate, like something from the Blair Witch Project

monkeynuz

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Yes, the right hand image in the picture above shows the growth pattern.

Read this which explains it well

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.arboristnow.com/news/Pruning-Techniques-Pollarding-vs-Topping-a-Tree&ved=2ahUKEwj12oHT_vHfAhVUUBUIHTcnBUYQFjAZegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw1o1dtZGnptSgl9jD89sq8n

Unfortunately that’s an American website, so can’t be trusted.

Pollarding for firewood was generally done every 10+ years, basket willow is generally coppiced.

If pollarding weakens a tree how did I have a 400+ year old pollarded oak at my previous home?

Also a lot of the French decorative pollarded willows are 100+ years old.

Pollarding has its place but not on a beech tree in a front garden.

Genghis Cant

From them photos I'm not convinced it's a beech tree.
It looks as much like an Alder to me.

magicbastarder

the buds look more like beech than alder.

westcork67

magicbastarder wrote: »

winter is generally the right time to trim trees, with a few exceptions (cherry, plum, etc - hard stone fruit trees).

General consensus is that January is the best time to trim trees however a warning here re Cherry - I would like to take a couple of branches that are dropping too low on a cherry blossom and cutting the grass is a right pain - when is the best time to do this? Thanks

beauf

I get a different answer about when to trimming trees every time I ask.

While I'm against cutting down trees or pollarding they plant them in ridiculous places sometimes. So you've no choice but to cut them back or take them out. It can be expensive also.