Acer rubrum pruning

[RemiYardAlex]

Hi all, I have two Acer Rubrum trees they were planted about 4 years ago. I wanted to post some pictures of them and get thoughts on if they should be pruned and where.

We had an ice storm this year that took off two main larger branches on one of the trees you can see in the pics where they broke off. There are two remaining larger branches similar to the ones that broke off I’m wondering if they need to be cut back at all of if they are good to keep going? Also will these wounds heal or would it be good to seal them? The other tree didn’t get damaged but leans to one side. Any advice is helpful thank you.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Overall they look pretty good. Don't seal the wounds, let them heal naturally.

 

[pdqdl]

I normally wouldn't quibble with anything JollyLogger suggests, but I'll see if I can change his mind.

Your first two trees look like nursery transplants that have grown strong and fast. Each of them is carrying too much growth on a low cluster of branches that will soon become oversized and grow into what are "enclosed bark forks". Basically, they will become too weak to support the foliage they are growing.

In the first picture, I would prune out the weaker of the two main leaders (2nd from the right), and I would prune back the rightmost branch somewhat to reduce its ability to compete with the central leader. This will also make a bit more room and the central leader should begin branching out a bit more to form a stronger scaffold structure. BE VERY CAREFUL TO NOT EVEN NICK THE BARK OF THE MAIN LEADER.

The second tree has a right and left branch that is each competing with the leader. Since they too will become a problem branch eventually, you should prune out the "leader" of each of the subordinate branches. As stated above, this will encourage better branching on the main leader and discourage top growth of the lateral branches.

Eventually, you will want to cut off all those lower branches anyway, so don't let them compete now with the central leader.

Story: last November I did some pretty major structural pruning to a couple of red maples just like yours. Only they were getting trimmed about 15 years too late. They had multiple "lateral" branches that were growing so vertically that they were deforming the trunk of the tree and had seriously weak crotches. When I was done removing the bad unions, the trees looked kinda like they had been taken in for a GI haircut. At least when I was done, they no longer had weak crotches that were likely to snap off in a heavy ice storm. Funny thing about those narrow branch unions: give them enough time and they always increase diameter until the large supported foliage exceeds the strength of the branch where it attaches to the trunk. Along comes an ice- or windstorm, and then the big heavy branches fall off, leaving a gaping wound in a tree that will never close over.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I normally wouldn't quibble with anything JollyLogger suggests, but I'll see if I can change his mind.

Your first two trees look like nursery transplants that have grown strong and fast. Each of them is carrying too much growth on a low cluster of branches that will soon become oversized and grow into what are "enclosed bark forks". Basically, they will become too weak to support the foliage they are growing.

In the first picture, I would prune out the weaker of the two main leaders (2nd from the right), and I would prune back the rightmost branch somewhat to reduce its ability to compete with the central leader. This will also make a bit more room and the central leader should begin branching out a bit more to form a stronger scaffold structure. BE VERY CAREFUL TO NOT EVEN NICK THE BARK OF THE MAIN LEADER.

The second tree has a right and left branch that is each competing with the leader. Since they too will become a problem branch eventually, you should prune out the "leader" of each of the subordinate branches. As stated above, this will encourage better branching on the main leader and discourage top growth of the lateral branches.

Eventually, you will want to cut off all those lower branches anyway, so don't let them compete now with the central leader.

Story: last November I did some pretty major structural pruning to a couple of red maples just like yours. Only they were getting trimmed about 15 years too late. They had multiple "lateral" branches that were growing so vertically that they were deforming the trunk of the tree and had seriously weak crotches. When I was done removing the bad unions, the trees looked kinda like they had been taken in for a GI haircut. At least when I was done, they no longer had weak crotches that were likely to snap off in a heavy ice storm. Funny thing about those narrow branch unions: give them enough time and they always increase diameter until the large supported foliage exceeds the strength of the branch where it attaches to the trunk. Along comes an ice- or windstorm, and then the big heavy branches fall off, leaving a gaping wound in a tree that will never close over.

Nah, I wouldn't argue with any of that.

 

[pdqdl]

Worthy of a quick read:
https://www.thinktreesnm.org/wp-content/uploads/2015-Suhr-Viers-StructuralPruning.pdf



Your trees are like the left diagram.

EDIT: I see a little bit of a problem with a split leader on that third tree, too.