Taming the Lion

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TBeerski

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Aug 26, 2020
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Location
Hillsborough Township, NJ 08844, USA
Hi,
Thank you for taking a look.
We have two maple trees on our property that we unfortunately let get our of control. They have significant lion tailing going on. We never pruned these trees this way, but the problem is a function of their "reaching for the light", if you will. The back tree was in a cedar forest. Neither tree as ever been pruned.

Maple in Back
Our back maple is straggly (the result of safely removing one side of split trunk), but provides some skyline effect which does something to enclose the yard and provides a least some screen to the bike path that runs the length of the property. As you can see in PIC 1 and PIC 2, the lion tailing is pretty extreme. I am not sure how to tackle this. I know it takes time. Q's:
  1. How far back can I cut on the branches and spark new growth inside? I appears this has already happened is some places.
  2. If this is possible, is this something I can keep doing each year to slowly keep improving the tree?
  3. PIC 5 - mentions"resorting a lions-tailed tree", but it doesn't show how to initiate this.
  4. PIC 6 - is this initiated by a Heading Cut or a Thinning Cut? Seems like you would want to take it back without creating new branches at the end...by creating a new upper pointing branch leader?

Maple in Front
As you can see in PIC 3 and 4 we have a reasonably nice maple in the front off our yard next to our driveway. You will note that we have a lot of low, far-reaching branches that obstruct the driveway and sidewalk. These are also lion tailing, but not as extreme as in back. Another factor is our neighbor removed his dead Ash tree that was wed to our tree on it's left side, hence, it bare at the top, but I suspect it will fill in...sometime this century.
We want to prune this maple back and completely removing a few of the small lower branches to the trunk.
  1. Is this possible?
  2. How much can I take off without killing the tree? Ideally we want improve the look and strengthen it so will do well over the next few years.
  3. Would I use the same technique you would recommend based on the above info?

Timing
It is early March here in New Jersey and temps are touching the high 40's about 3 times per week. Is it too late to tackle this job without hurting the tree. It so should I seal the prune ends with something?

Pests
We are about to see an explosion of spotted laternflies that just appeared last year. We did OK controlling them in the first year (we hope), by using the tree umbrella style traps. Based on the fact that the larve will appear in April will this adversely affect my pruning plans now?

Thanks!!!!
Tom
 

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What most of us refer to as lion-tailing occurs only from a certain type of drastic pruning (it was very common where I used to live in Oklahoma). Your trees exhibit nothing of the sort.

You're correct that your trees reaching for light explains their growth pattern. I'm a sawyer not an arborist, so I can't say if it's too late to make pruning cuts in your location. But my inclination would be to remove those long drooping limbs all the way back to the bole of the tree if you mess with them at all. I do know that if you cut them now the cuts will weep sap, but not sure if that will be a problem or not. I suspect not.

You are in "sugaring season," something I used to enjoy, so I believe the amount of sap lost from removing a small limb would not be a grave threat. But again, I'm not an arborist.
 
Yeah, I'd clean up the low hanging stuff. However, realize the problem with lions tailing is that the branch formed with a full compliment of branches and the branch "engineered itself" to support what is there. When it is improperly pruned, it shifts weight to the outside with no branches to dampen the movement. Your branches took years to grow like that a the tree "knew" what it was doing when they grew. that doesn't mean they are perfect or not more prone to failure...just food for thought.
 
What most of us refer to as lion-tailing occurs only from a certain type of drastic pruning (it was very common where I used to live in Oklahoma). Your trees exhibit nothing of the sort.

You're correct that your trees reaching for light explains their growth pattern. I'm a sawyer not an arborist, so I can't say if it's too late to make pruning cuts in your location. But my inclination would be to remove those long drooping limbs all the way back to the bole of the tree if you mess with them at all. I do know that if you cut them now the cuts will weep sap, but not sure if that will be a problem or not. I suspect not.

You are in "sugaring season," something I used to enjoy, so I believe the amount of sap lost from removing a small limb would not be a grave threat. But again, I'm not an arborist.
Thanks, old CB. I appreciate the response. Yeah, I will take a long hard look to see how the tree will balance after taking those branches out. Trees are tough...as long as you don't kill them. (wink face imodi)
 
Yeah, I'd clean up the low hanging stuff. However, realize the problem with lions tailing is that the branch formed with a full compliment of branches and the branch "engineered itself" to support what is there. When it is improperly pruned, it shifts weight to the outside with no branches to dampen the movement. Your branches took years to grow like that a the tree "knew" what it was doing when they grew. that doesn't mean they are perfect or not more prone to failure...just food for thought.
Thanks, ATH. I see what you mean. I suspect I will either cut the whole branch out to the trunk...or... prune it back slowly over a few years.
 
Comments are good, I think you have an idea about the tree condition and what to do . I would suggest just making a few cuts on the worst branches to lighten the ends; its not so much the length you are reducing but the density (and weight) of branches at the ends. This will also allow more light to the inside and lower crown to keep smaller branches alive and not increase the hollowing out of the crown. These are still young trees; decades from now they will look much different, with many fewer but larger complex branches higher up making up the crown. Between now and then, you wand to avoid large diameter cuts or tear outs that would introduce decay.
 

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