Easy Gardener • Pat Howell
	This fall's high winds mean pruning tree limbs

The high winds of this fall brought falling trees and branches that snapped off. Branches that are split, torn, or broken should be removed.

Pruning mature trees can be dangerous. If pruning involves working above 12 feet or using heavy power equipment, it is best to hire a professional arborist. The Takoma Park Tree Ordinance requires that you must hire only arborists who are LTEs (Licensed Tree Experts). An LTE will have current certification issued by the State of Maryland and will be on file in the Takoma Park City Arborist's office.

For the homeowner doing repairs, using a small chain or hand saw, or removing large limbs, the use of personal safety equipment, such as protective eye wear and hearing protection is a must.

If you are repairing moderate tree damage to branches that you can reach (no high wire acts without a net, please), it helps to get a handle on proper pruning, and tree care in general. There are a few simple principles that everybody should understand setting out to prune a lower tree branch. Proper technique is essential. Poor pruning can cause damage that lasts for the life of the tree.

Lower branches that have snapped off usually have left stubs of varying length. Removing the stub properly is important. Trees do not heal the way people do. When a tree is wounded, it must grow over and "compartmentalize" the wound.

WHEN TO PRUNE: Fall/winter. As a rule, wound closure is fastest if pruning takes place before the spring growth flush.

WHERE you make a pruning cut is critical to a tree's response in growth and wound closure.

Each branch has a "collar," which contains trunk or parent branch tissues, and the tree will be damaged unnecessarily if you remove or damage these tissues. In fact, if the cut is large, the tree may suffer permanent internal decay from an improper pruning cut. Pruning cuts should be made just outside the branch collar.

HOW: If a permanent branch has been shortened by storm damage, cut it back to a lateral branch or bud. Cuts made between buds or branches may lead to stem decay, sprout production and/or misdirected growth.

Wound dressings were once thought to accelerate wound closure, providing protection against insects and diseases, thus reducing decay. However, research has shown that dressings do not reduce decay or speed closure, and rarely prevent insect or disease decay infestations.

Pruning cuts should be made just outside the branch collar. See Figure 1 for where to remove a damaged branch.

If you have a branch partially snapped off and therefore attached to a live stub, see Figure 2 for where to prune a dead branch that has a collar of live wood. The final cut should be just beyond the outer edge of the collar.

Thanks to the International Society of Arboriculture for the drawings. For more information on tree care, the ISA has an entire series of brochures on tree pruning, tree value and much more. Write to: ISA, P.O. Box 3129, Champaign, IL 61826-3129.

We will suggest to the City Arborist that a supply of hand-outs would be helpful to keep at the Department of Public Works, but please do not leave a message for Brett to mail anything to you. Easy Gardener will let you know if such hand-outs become available from the city.

Pat Howell is a Takoma Park gardener and landscape designer/garden-builder, and welcomes comments, advice, suggestions, complaints. She is available for hand-holding and answering questions through Deephaven Landscapers.