Does a 2 plane pruning cut impede healing?

[BillyB]

Take, for example, a large tree limb being pruned with a chain saw and the diameter of the limb is greater than the bar length. Is it ok to cut from both sides? ie. make a cut on one side then move to the other side to make the complimentary cut. Does it impede wound healing if the cuts don't compliment each other perfectly? i.e. they meet at a bit of an angle creating a slight ridge.

• Must the cut be a single plane or is this not really something to worry about?
• Is the cutting pattern described acceptable or should a different cutting pattern be used?

 

[BC WetCoast]

That would be a huge pruning cut unless you have an 8" bar. It's unlikely the tree would be able to close over the wound in any reasonable amount of time.

I've made pruning cuts where the face hasn't been flat, usually due to other items getting in the way of the saw. I don't see it as a problem. The tree will grow callous wood around the margin of the wound and won't notice if the face of the cut is flat or has a slight ridge.

 

[ATH]

I was thinking the same thing...if you are making a cut that big it probably isn't healing over.
But that isn't an excuse to a bad cut. The most important thing is to not cut into be branch collar. As long as you are close, but not into that, you aren't going to significantly impact the time it takes to encapsulate with woundwood. You can also try to clean it up a little once the stem is gone...

 

[BillyB]

Good news! I was hoping that the number of planes didn't make a difference and that, as long as the cut remains outside the collar, the wound wood wouldn't care.

Re: size of cut. Yes, some of these are indeed large pruning cuts. Many of the lower branches on my aging oak trees have expired due to increasing crowding over the years - one of the things I'm addressing. Some, as you might imagine have some heft to them. It doesn't help that, if I can, I try to keep my feet on the ground by using my power pruner to make the cut and it only has a 10" bar. Add to that that my angle may be constrained in certain cases resulting in a cut which may not necessarily be at right angle to the limb thereby increasing the width of the cut beyond the diameter of the tree. Therefore, the occasional two plane result.

Thanks for your insights guys! One worry down.

 

[sb47]

It doesn't mater, as long as you leave the coller intact. When limbs break off in the wind, they don't break off on a single plane.