Critique from a certified arborist made me rethink my pruning cuts

Last fall I was trimming a red oak in Portland and a guy from the city stopped to say my flush cuts were damaging the branch collar. He showed me how leaving the collar intact helps the tree seal faster. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from old training?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jason15d ago

Yeah my buddy in Eugene had the same thing happen, he was doing those flush cuts on his maples for years thinking it was the clean way to go. Then a landscaper pointed out how the bark was peeling back on his cuts and showed him the branch collar trick, totally changed how he trims now. He still gets mad when he sees those old flush cuts on his trees knowing he messed them up.

mason_knight15d ago

Man that sucks, knowing you messed up your own trees.

-1