[CANUFNET] Tree maintenace

[Anita Schill]

Alex Shigo covered this during his workshops in Boone, NC. Basically old trees have a lot of mass with limited energy to support that mass. What it can no longer support it sheds. We do not know which branches the tree decides to shut down until the following growing season - what we see as dieback. That should be the only thing that is pruned and don't do any pruning until the leaves on the tree have fully expanded. Don't prune anything else. Do not fertilize. Do everything you can to improve the opportunity for photosynthesis as that will allow the tree to produce and store more food. Usually this means soil aeration (reduce compaction) and water (infiltration and drainage). Fertilization with nitrogen is not recommended unless you know there is a deficiency. If so. fertilize at a third of the rate and only fertilize when the leaves are fully expanded. It is better though to improve your root environment, including high quality organic matter that is full of biology that can associate with tree roots (mycorrhizae). One of the best ways to do this is allow the leaves to accumulate at the base of the trees as a mulch. You do not need to add micorrhizae. They are all ready there but they too need water, oxygen, organic matter and a proper pH. Avoid root damage....
my two-bits,
Anita Schill
Calgary, Alberta
________________________________________
From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net [canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Listar, Ivan [ilistar at london.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 6:02 AM
To: canufnet at list.web.net
Subject: [CANUFNET] Tree maintenace

The City of London is conducting a UFORE analysis this year.

We are trying to raise the importance of tree maintenance, especially pruning older trees.  There is a lot of general information about the benefits of pruning but I couldn’t find anything specific with to how much longer (years) we can keep trees alive and maintain our canopy cover through good pruning practices.  Does have any information on this or could you point me in the right direction?

Thank you

Ivan Listar, R.P.F.

Urban Forester, City of London

A.J. Tyler Operations Centre

663 Bathurst St.

London, Ont.  N5Z 1P8

Phone: 519-661-2500 ext. 4977

mailto:ilistar at london.ca

fax: 519-661-2352