prunning little trees

[stevohut]

is it allright to trim branches from little trees in the yard during growing season or should you still wait until it's dormant. It's hard to mow the lawn when you get branches in the face. these trees are maybe 5 years old

 

[jws1467]

Depends on the type of tree.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Post a photo if possible. Tree type, branch size and location of the cut are very important factors.

 

[ctrees4$]

Cut at laterals and do what is called directional prunning.Dont leave any stub cuts and you will be fine.Make shure the final cut on each branch is nice and clean...no rips in the bark.The plan is to train the tree to grow in the direction you want.

 

[pdqdl]

:agree2:

In inexpensive hand saw is usually a good way to do the ground trimming.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Structual prune. A class of pruning. Why would you injure a tree to make mowing easier? The attachment of limbs on the tree trunk encourage trunk girth. Why would you make a tree top heavy just so you can mow?
Jeff
Limb attachment encourages trunk girth.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Structual prune. A class of pruning. Why would you injure a tree to make mowing easier? The attachment of limbs on the tree trunk encourage trunk girth. Why would you make a tree top heavy just so you can mow?
Jeff
Limb attachment encourages trunk girth.

Good point. Probably better to extend the mulch ring and eliminate the need to mow.

 

[treeseer]

Structual prune. A class of pruning. Why would you injure a tree to make mowing easier? The attachment of limbs on the tree trunk encourage trunk girth. Why would you make a tree top heavy just so you can mow?
Jeff
Limb attachment encourages trunk girth.

This is important.

Your options seem to be to cut off the lower crown of the tree, or expand the mulch area under it.

Mulch is cheap.

 

[pdqdl]

Perhaps you could send us some pictures of the trees in question?

Even small trees benefit from corrective pruning. In the landscape, trees tend to grow outward and down, whereas in their natural forest setting, there is more competition, and they grow upward.

The OP didn't say he was going to hack off the crown, he asked for pruning suggestions. Given the incomplete information in the original post, I would hesitate to give specific pruning suggestions.

Mulch, however, is a great idea for making the mowing easier, and it is a nice spot to add other landscape plants too.