Thread: How do you deadwood the tips and ends?

I was wonder how to correctly deadwood the small deadwood at the tips and ends of the branches. The ones that are so small if you were to try and cut it it would just break? I hear it is wrong to smack it with the side of your handsaw. Maybe I heard wrong, maybe this person never been out to the end of a branch to see the dead wood. Maybe you just a 16 foot polesaw to cut what you can see from that far away. I don't want to be a hack anymore I want to change and do it right. Maybe I need a pair of those felcos and hand clip each one.

Not so funny I sometimes take a pair of good hand pruners up to do just that.

... and I'm looking for exercises to make my arms 8 feet long so that I don't miss anything.

BTW: I did fine in that never touched before 75' pin oak that I couldn't always tell dead from live with the leaves falling. I pruned it based on the esthetic intelligence of that tree and wow, every cut was a dead piece.

Jack

I don't. It's unnecessary. What, pencil sized sticks? Or, smaller?

Pull-ease!

No I am talking those pieces half the size of pencil and smaller. Heres and example the size of a coffee stir.

Our clients dont like to see that sorta deadwood. Rich people must eat alot of carrots.

We have two lifts thats not the problem getting to them what method of cutting or getting rid of it. Do you cut it, snip it or smack it like a sword fight.

Wait let me rephrase that like your swatting a swarm of bees.

I let the wind take care of it.

I cut it with a hand pruner and watch out for the angle of the cut to establish correct direction of new growth. That is when I include live material.

Jack

chew it like a beaver

I've tried that also. But I find that it takes to long to floss inbetween climbs. So now I just cut it off at the trunk. No more LONG walks on limbs or having to waste precious time dealing with insignifacant(sp) twigs.

well if you had to cut it off how would you do it? Lets just say the wind may not pick up the day lets just say there isn't a steep presure gradiant that day the lines isogonic presure are far appart then what?

Originally posted by wct4life
I've tried that also. But I find that it takes to long to floss inbetween climbs. So now I just cut it off at the trunk. No more LONG walks on limbs or having to waste precious time dealing with insignifacant(sp) twigs.

YIKES!

Smatter Craig, it's not quiting time out west yet... why you on the puter so early? you get in trouble with the boss lady again?

OUCH! sorry to hear about that pal, I was finally geting back on my feet when this nasty cold hit, look what I found Joe homeowner doing next door to my customer now that's tip pruning hacker style.

To answer Johns question, it depends on the species. I'll twitch them off with a hand or pole saw if it''s birch or maple where they dont hold on hard, bit on green ash I will use a pruner because most of the time they will break and hang and you still have to go cut them off.

I know people that saw you cannot smakc the dead twigs, and you have to cut every piece clean If they are the ones paying me, then i will do it thier way. It just takes longer, IMO the problems with CODIT here are negligable. Small twigs will break off ragged naturally.

Removing dead wood is crown cleaning. Standard 5.6.1 in ANSI A300 guides the arborist in understanding that size and location of branches and yes even twigs SHALL be specified. Some trees I have contracted to remove EVERY bit of dead branch tissue.

Hand pruners are an easy tool to use, and result in healthier more attractive trees. Dead twigs on species like dogwood snap off cleanly; most need to be cut cleanly, like J&J say. Collateral damage from trying to break off dead twigs with a handsaw defeats the purpose of pruning.