winter work or lack of

[mmayo]

Hey guys I hear some talk about work being slow in Jan. I have seen this first hand but its not so much of a problem if you set your customers up on a schedule. We schedule all our pruning either in the summer or winter when the trees are not moving their energy so much. Everyone knows that late winter is the best time for tree puning. Yeah I know you take the work as it comes in right, but if you educate the customer on proper procedure they will be more willing to wait until the proper time to have their trees pruned. This just happens to keep business moving in the winter. This obviously does not include hazards, or trees that need immediate attention. Works for us any thoughts?

 

[Tim Gardner]

Here in Myrtle Beach, SC the bottom of the “slow time” curve is in February. I feel that it is because people are paying back bills incurred during the holidays and the temperature being low. When it warms back up and folks begin getting out in their yards the calls come rolling in.

I like the idea of spreading the work out over the year but most people just do not have the cash to get tree work done in the winter months. Christmas takes a large chunk of a budget.

 

[treeman82]

Up here, March is the slow month if you have one. Most of the dormant pruning / removals / land clearing has been done and you have gone through most of your back log. It's a couple weeks, but that gives you time to get ready for the spring surge. If you are slow in January, then you have a big problem.

 

[treeclimber165]

This year has been a lot slower than recent years. Most guys are usually busy through mid-December, then somewhat slow until about Feb when the tax returns start rolling in. Our 'winter' starts later and ends earlier than most areas. We might have 7-10 nights all year that get below freezing.

This year, the phones went dead before Thanksgiving. We had a little spurt the last week of November, but I've only worked 1 1/2 days per week for 2 weeks now. I hope I make enough on this little road trip to North Carolina to carry me through January.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

August thru November were slower than normal for me this year. December things changed, I picked up alot of work. I should have enough to keep me going thru most of January. This is quite different than if I did treework full time. What I have would last a full time climber about a week and a half. Interesting thing, two other climbers that I work for periodically have had a real decline in workload. They are no more than 20min. away from me.

 

[hillbilly]

mmayo wrote:
"Everyone knows that late winter is the best time for tree puning"

Maybe it differs with the climate, but I'd say everyone here (who knows something about pruning) knows that late summer, July, August and September is the best time for pruning and late winter is the the second best.
We do very little pruning now, a few major takedowns for the city and the rest is just snowclearance. Last christmas we worked 30 days in a row and it was just chaos anyway. Some guys got paychecks that would equal that of the Volvo executives...almost

 

[mmayo]

I've heard both times are acceptable for pruning( both late summer and late winter) I think it depends on what your trying to accomplish.
ie: tree needs to be pruned, tree is under stress, in winter the nutrients are stored in the roots, which will help speed recovery of wounding, where as if the crown is pruned in late summer those nutrients are lost. On the other hand if you are looking to remove water sprouts it would seem the late summer would be the ideal time(remove branches and nutrients less sprouts will return) In theory of course I would love to read any information regarding this subject

 

[hillbilly]

mmayo, here are some references to back me up on
late summer being the best time for pruning.
The quotes are from "Modern Arboriculture" by Alex L. Shigo
and similar arguments, facts, can be found in some of my swedish
books.

mmayo wrote:
"in winter the nutrients are stored in the roots"

Alex Shigo writes on page 36:
"Some people still believe that roots send up food for buds to open. Roots send up water and elements, but little or no energy substances."

On page 145:
"Wounds made in spring at the time of leaf expansion will have
moderate cambium dieback.
Wounds inflicted during the summer, or midgrowth period, usually
have very little cambial dieback."

The impact of the chosen pruning time effects on the tree also
depends on the species, I wouldn't dare touching a plum tree
other than during JAS, July, August, September. A Tilia on the
other hand would be no problem to do during late winter.

Also, if you're only gonna remove dead wood I believe the timing
matters less.

Sorry for leading this thread off topic.

 

[xander9727]

Bravo Hillbilly,
I lilke when people support their claims with fact. Until I read your post I would have been inclined to agree with mmayo in regards of when to prune. I know better than to argue with Alex. Thanks for the post.

 

[mmayo]

Alex Shigo, "Modern Aboriculture" pg 145
"Wounds made in spring at the time of leaf expansion will have moderate cambium dieback."

I'm talking about pruning in the winter time, before leaf expansion before bud break. I know it is inappropriate to prune after bud break. I still stand by the statement that winter is a more appropriate time for pruning. I agree that summer, after leaf development is complete is also a great time to prune. It is interesting that you quote Alex Shigo for it is Shigo that continually says to prune when there is high available energy in the late winter before bud break or the early summer after leaf development is complete. pgs 269-271 "Modern Aboriculture" If you prune in the late summer and into the fall he goes on to say, you will remove nutrients that have been created throughout the summer, before the tree has a chance to store them. This is the topic of this thread I want to know how many people are actually doing this? I know this can be a cut-throat industry as companies who will show up the fastest usually get the job. I'm wondering who is scheduling pruning at the proper times, and if not why not? It is our responsibility as professional arborists to do the highest good for trees that we possibly can, and if pruning at inproper times causes harm than why would you do that? I'm sorry Hillbilly but the quotes that you have posted do not support your claim that late summer is a good time to prune because quite frankly here in the states, as far as Shigo and Dr. Edward Gillman have observed late summer is not an ideal time to prune.

 

[treeman82]

Since I am going to be starting them one day rather soon.. I would tell you to send out your new year's cards. I am sure that your customers are getting cards for x-mas and channukah, and kawanza. Send one for the new year and be different. Send a little note saying you will be in touch with them once the holiday rush is over to talk about trees or what not.

 

[geofore]

prune

What happens to a maple tree if you prune it in the early summer vs. the winter? In the summer it will ooze a bit of sap then drys out, prune it in the winter and before spring comes it will ooze lots of sap just in time for the bugs to attack it as it will still be oozing in the spring. Different trees have different times that are better for trimming and a blanket statment won't do. Where a walnut tree reacts better if trimmed in the winter.

 

[FBerkel]

Winter Maple Ooze

Geofore,

I've always heard that the ooze, or what some call "bleeding" is actually mostly water. This makes sense, since the sap is stored deep in the trunk and roots. (Hillbilly--I think MMayo was referring to food storage in the roots, not absorption through the roots). The bleeding in maples is more of an aesthetic problem, especially on Red Maples.

MMayo is also right, (congrats, Matt, don't let it go to your head )according to Shigo, about pruning earlier in Summer rather than later. He advises pruning right at the top of the sharp rise on the Askenasy phenolgy curve, which occurs in late spring/early summer. The point is minimal loss of stored energy, I believe.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Over the years I've seen cyclical declines in work in the Dec/Jan period and jul/aug.

I atribute the former to holiday spending & taxes as previously mentioned and the latter to vacations and school startup.

I to have tried to scheddule jobs for these periods to pick up the slack time.