bens81•1mo ago

Just noticed a massive difference in tree growth after changing my pruning schedule

I've been doing tree work around Portland for about 5 years, and this spring I switched up when I prune my oaks. Instead of late fall like always, I did it in early August after talking to a guy at the local nursery. The new growth on the 3 oaks I trimmed is way more even and less scraggly compared to the 2 I did on my old schedule. Anyone else seen big changes from shifting your pruning timing?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahw3017d ago

Read something from a Oregon State extension article about this. They said oak trees store energy in their roots for the winter and early summer is when they're pulling from that reserve to push leaves. If you prune in August the tree has already stored most of its energy by then so it's not as stressed. Late fall pruning they said can actually trick the tree into using up that stored energy before winter hits. Sounds like what you're seeing with the more even growth matches that.

piper9121mo ago

Portland's wet fall is killer for fresh cuts, I've seen oaks rot from the inside after late season pruning. August is still hot and dry here, so the wounds dry fast, but that early growth is just a stress response. You might end up with weaker branching long term since the tree is pushing leaves instead of storing energy for winter.

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charlienelson1mo ago

Totally spot on about that energy storage issue. Had a red oak in my own yard that I pruned too late one year, and sure enough it pushed out a bunch of weak, scraggly growth that snapped off in a windstorm the next spring. The tree took three seasons to really bounce back and looked terrible the whole time. Now I strictly stick to late winter or early spring for anything serious, even if it means fighting through some rain to get it done.