Please help me understand how to properly prune a live oak

[greentiger87]

I don't understand.. the information on the web, even from authoritative sources, is so confusing - and often contradicts each other. I'm beginning to think the right answer is just *don't* prune.

I have two healthy, 15 year old live oaks of about 18-inch diameter at breast height. The canopy was raised to above breast height years ago, so you can walk under the tree without problems. The cuts back to the trunk healed just fine.

I don't want to cut any large diameter branches, just "prune" the edges of the canopy - especially the parts that hang down to nearly face level at the drip-line. I thought that as long as the branches were relatively thin, I could just trim in a straight line. But I've seen this referred to as "tipping" on the web, and strongly discouraged.

Should I trim each tip back to a large parent branch? Or only back to a relatively young stem - just removing the terminal shoot? I realize what I'm wanting to do will be time consuming, I'm okay with that. I just want to know if I'm being stupid or not.

If I decide call an arborist, what do I tell them I want? Two trimming companies I called seemed confused when I said I didn't want lions-tailing, which is what most people in the neighborhood have done to their trees (many others have topped them), especially since I don't care if the grass grows underneath the tree. Is lions-tailing not a common term? Is their lack of recognition a sign that I should look elsewhere?

Thanks. If I'm simply asking a question that is too big to answer, please point me in the direction of something useful to read. Thanks so much!

 

[Raintree]

If we are talking about raising the skirt (elevating the drip edge) pruning off low hanging limbs for head clearance. Tipping up the branch ends is preferable to making trunk cuts.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

For what you're describing, a good pole lopper is your best friend. Rather than tip the ends, jst trace the lowest hanging branches back to the main limb and make a clean cut there for clearance. Easier to do than describe, but hopefully that makes sense. Jeff

 

[greentiger87]

For what you're describing, a good pole lopper is your best friend. Rather than tip the ends, jst trace the lowest hanging branches back to the main limb and make a clean cut there for clearance. Easier to do than describe, but hopefully that makes sense. Jeff

Yes, that makes perfect sense, and I have a pole lopper already. Thank you!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

No problem. It's pretty easy to keep it looking natural and still get extra clearance. A well pruned tree shouldn't look pruned at all, it should just look... right. I've had customers come home and not even realize I've done the job until they walk under it. Good luck, Jeff