<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Dear Mark:<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thank you, thank you, thank you.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It is not often that one hears the truth about pruning and its ability to solve ALL the problems. All too often, it creates more problems than it solves when it’s too much and too often and it has nothing to do with the architecture of the species being pruned. In addition, if one thinks about what a tree is being asked to forfeit for every branch we decide it doesn’t need - all those nutrients that are stored in that branch - this fact should give pause to anyone associated with this work as all to often the tree would disagree with your branch-removal decisions</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I would like to suggest that if we need today much more attention to all the things that need to be thought about and initiated before we plant a tree, driven by the understanding that most of our urban trees come from forests somewhere in the world and that, while you can take a tree out of the forest, you can never take the forest out of the tree. Such an understanding should inform planning for a tree, preparing the site to accommodate a tree’s needs for the long term, selecting a healthy tree that’s true to species specific architecture and is the correct tree for what the planting sire can accommodate - if we did all these things for every tree we plant, we might not have to do so much after care, including pruning and we might see a lot less failure.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">As with most things that fall into the “long term” category, accommodating trees is front-loaded but, as you have stated so well, trees are often a total after thought and that’s when the problems begin.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I hope this additional comment helps with the “tree pruning schedule” question.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Naomi Zürcher’</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Urban Forester /. Consulting Arborist</div><div class="">ISA CA #NY 0604A</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Jan 15, 2020, at 12:25 PM, Mark Carroll via CANUFNET <<a href="mailto:canufnet@list.web.net" class="">canufnet@list.web.net</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="ydp14290c40yahoo-style-wrap" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><div class=""></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" class=""><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">To All,</span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">Thought I would send a couple thoughts for scheduled tree pruning to the forum,</span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">This may not help but here it is...</span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">In regards to tree pruning, is a schedule an accurate way of determining the proper way to look after one of our natural heritage assets.</span></div><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">It seems we look after our trees completely different from our other assets. We inspect our roads, we inspect our play ground equipment, and we inspect our buildings and so on and make the necessary repairs or preventative maintenance as needed. With trees we seem to have the need to just send crews out to prune. Do our crews have the knowledge, do our crews care enough, and do our crews have enough experience? If you use a contractor, we use the low bid. Will these contractors send us their best to prune, highly unlikely? They send their cheapest crew so they can cover the low bid.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">Structural pruning is what I would call “subjective to the individual doing the work”. Pruning a tree every 5, 7 years just because it is part of the rotation can have devastating effects on trees. Remember “the best thing you can do to a tree is prune it, the worst thing you can do to a tree is prune it”.</span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">Boulevard trees are subjected to a multitude of deceases, hardships, and pests. Salt, heat, vehicle damage, lack of habitat, lack of nutrients, lack of soils and the list can go on. It’s a wonder we have trees at all these days. Add to this the unnecessary pruning and you now have a tree that may not survive or at best be under constant stress.</span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">Extensive structural pruning in warmer climates may be beneficial to some trees. Longer growing seasons and better habitats will afford the tree better conditions to heal quicker without putting stress on the tree. Ed Gilman, a well known expert in structural pruning will not hesitate to remove more than 50% of a tree to prune it for proper structure. My opinion is that this may be ok for a tree in Florida where the growing season is almost 12 months of the year, but will it work in Ontario where we only have 6 to 7 months of a growing season. Will 50% be too much for a tree to handle here and will it take longer to heal? This may leave it exposed to deceases and pests for a longer period of time with wounds leading to cavities and weakened structures.</span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">When we look at pruning schedules, what do we want? Structural pruning? 2.5 to 3 meters over the sidewalk? 4 to 6 meters over the road for safe vehicle passage? How big will branches be when removed? No larger than 8 to 10 cm? No main trunk cuts? Do you thin out the Tree? Do you do reduction cuts? Do you have to climb each tree? Is each cut made from the ground? What is your budget? How many trees do you have to do?</span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">What about basing the pruning on the type of tree? Does a Locust need as much pruning as a Linden, or vise versa? Locust are over used, as are Lindens along our municipal street-scapes. Are they the best trees to be planting? Lindens are notorious for over growing on the lower branches and will need to be drastically elevated once they have reached 10 to 15 years of age or older. This will encourage epicormic shoots to grow and now we are back removing these shoots in a few short years. Lindens often have the co-dominant leaders that will present a problem when they are mature. Do you remove one whole leader all at once leaving the tree looking lopsided with a large open wound, or do you remove one leader slowly over a period of time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class=""> </span>Locust have a bad habit of shutting down branches, which leaves deadwood throughout the tree. Locust too, can have long straggly branches, small leaves and insect infestations that residents have trouble with leading to many visits for pruning. How do you manage this if you are on a 7 year pruning cycle?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">Trying to get developers, consultants, landscape architects, engineers and planners to diversify our tree canopy is a struggle, more like pulling teeth. Who doesn’t like the Freemanii Maple? They are planted everywhere. How much pruning will these trees need? They have the structure and growth pattern of a Silver Maple and it is the fall colour of the Red Maple that makes them so utilized. Usually multiple co-dominant stems and lateral branching wherever the sun seems to hit it the most. Locust, Lindens and some sort of Maple cultivar is the average species list that come with any sort of subdivision agreement. Trees are never planted correctly, so when municipalities assume boulevard trees they are usually under stress from being dug in too deep, the worst nursery stalk and planted with ropes and burlap not completely removed. We assume thousands of trees each year and may never get to see each tree until years later and then it will be some time after that before we can actually prune all of them. By this time it may be too late to properly prune a tree.</span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">I would recommend a species determined schedule for pruning. (Does that make sense?) Hopefully we are now looking at diversity for tree planting along our boulevards. Pick species that will do well, show better structural growth patterns, fit the habitat that they are growing and withstand the harsh growing medium that they will be presented with. This may lead to a better option for pruning schedules. Training methods must be improved and staff must have the passion for preserving our trees and doing what should be done, this includes pruning practices.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">So as a summary to scheduled pruning??? Yes, if done properly! If a tree does not need to be pruned, don’t prune it. I don’t think you can write a tender that will cover proper pruning of a tree. Pruning is too subjective. No 2 trees are ever alike, they never need the same type of pruning. Training methods and opinions are too diverse. If we ever get to the point where we can actually engineer a tree that is the day when we can schedule pruning. We also need to well staff Urban Forestry Departments. If we can fully train and control pruning methods, that will help us with scheduling. Urban Forestry Departments are always under funded and under staffed. We rely on the “Request for Tender” for outside crews to the majority of work. Do we get the best? Again “maybe” most likely not.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="ydp96b939bbMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">I always say” we all know we need trees, we just don’t want trees”. How often have you heard somebody say that they do not want a tree at or around their home? NIMBY!!! “Leaves get in my eaves trough, I have to rake too many leaves, there is too much shade for my grass grow” etc. But that same person will go to a park and sit under a tree to watch their family members play a sport or go to the playground and splash pad. Trees are often an after thought. Not really looked upon as an essential asset. Municipalities will often have more staff cutting grass, filling pot holes, doing snow removal, controlling water-waste water, than looking after their trees. This thought may be changing since there has been more concern for our natural environment all over the world. It will take time and money to do the right thing for our trees. I hope I see it in my life time.</span></p><div class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class="">I hope this helps with “Tree Pruning Scheduling”. Most likely not, but I thought I would send my 2 cents worth anyways.</span></div><div class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.266666412353516px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" class=""><p class="ydped8955f8MsoNormal" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><img width="80" height="100" align="left" hspace="10" alt="signature-TWS" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class="" style="width: 0.833in; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 19px; min-height: 1.041in;"></p><div class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(46, 116, 181);" class="">Mark Carroll </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class="">ISA Certified Arborist/Qualified Arborist Tech/Lead Hand</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>| Public Works, </span><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" class="">Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville</span></div><div class=""><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" class="">111 Sandiford Dr., Stouffville ON | L4A 0Z</span><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" class="">8</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class="">905-640-1910 Ext. 4249| Cell; 416-791-1040 |<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(46, 116, 181);" class="">mark.carroll@</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""><a href="http://www.townofws.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class=""><span style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">townofws.ca</span></a></span></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div id="yahoo_quoted_9385085163" class="yahoo_quoted" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><div class="">On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, 09:49:19 a.m. EST, Hettmann, Joerg via CANUFNET <<a href="mailto:canufnet@list.web.net" class="">canufnet@list.web.net</a>> wrote:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div id="yiv3391933860" class=""><div class=""><div class="yiv3391933860WordSection1"><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal">Hello All;</p><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal">We are in the process of developing a long-term tree maintenance strategy for the City of Vaughan, including a tree pruning rotation. While we preliminarily have considered a seven year cycle, we would appreciate any information from other municipalities on their strategies. </p><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal">We are also looking for information to what degree proper tree pruning enhances tree growth(yield), resistance, and age. This information would be very helpful in our valuation of the investment into tree maintenance.</p><div class=""> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal">Thank you for any information you may be able to share.</p><div class=""> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-family: sans-serif;" class="">Joerg Hettmann, R.P.F.</span></b><b class=""><span style="font-family: sans-serif;" class=""></span></b></p><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-family: sans-serif;" class="">Manager of Forestry and Horticulture</span></b><b class=""></b></p><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;" class="">905-832-8577 ext. 6139<span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""> I<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:joerg.hettmann@vaughan.ca" target="_blank" href="mailto:joerg.hettmann@vaughan.ca" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline;" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">joerg.hettmann@vaughan.ca</span></a></span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""></span></p><div class=""><span style="font-family: sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-family: sans-serif;" class="">City of Vaughan I Parks Forestry and Horticulture Operations</span></b><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""></span></b></p><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: sans-serif;" class="">2141 Major mackenzie Dr., Vaughan, ON L6A 1T1</span></p><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal"><b class=""><span style="font-family: sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 112, 192);" class=""><a href="http://vaughan.ca/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline;" class="">vaughan.ca</a></span></b><b class=""><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: rgb(0, 112, 192);" class=""></span></b></p><div class=""><span lang="EN-CA" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 1.65pt; background-color: white; vertical-align: top; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b class=""><span style="font-family: sans-serif; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);" class=""> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3391933860MsoNormal"><img border="0" id="yiv3391933860Picture_x0020_4" alt="cid:image001.jpg@01D567F3.E6C37260" style="min-height: 0.7708in;" class="" apple-inline="yes" src="cid:uwbBeOYSkYStfl8IRynF"></p><div class=""> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div>This e-mail, including any attachment(s), may be confidential and is intended solely for the attention and information of the named addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient or have received this message in error, please notify me immediately by return e-mail and permanently delete the original transmission from your computer, including any attachment(s). Any unauthorized distribution, disclosure or copying of this message and attachment(s) by anyone other than the recipient is strictly prohibited.</div></div></div></div></div><img style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;" class="" apple-inline="yes" id="4FCB4A42-23E3-4C98-AF09-C05956542467" src="cid:uwbBeOYSkYStfl8IRynF"></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>