Pruning for increasing tree height

[donnyork]

Pepper Trees: pruning to encourage growth
I have moved into a neighborhood where everybody has California Pepper Trees. My own yard has a large number only a couple years old, some older. I notice they either grow awfully wild and bushy or take a stately "real shade tree" character. I'm ravenously curious to know about pruning issues like whether taller growth is or isn't guarenteed by removing or thinning lower areas, whether overall foliage growth per season is sort of a constant quantity in an individual tree, etc. (Will removing lower branches necessarily increase upper branch numbers?) The art of bonzai tree growing or the art of topiary work (both unknown to me) might be useful study areas for these questions.
Eager for your comments or reading recommendations!

 

[treeclimber165]

You can remove a lot of the smaller low stuff. The tree needs a certain amount of foliage to survive. It will replace leaves and limbs where it can. If you don't let it bush out low, it will bush out further up.
Two 'rules of thumb' I use when pruning:
1. 1/4 rule- When pruning, never remove more than 1/4 of the foliage in one season.
2. 1/3 rule- Try to cut back limbs to a main limb or trunk that is at least 3 times as large as the limb being removed.
Also, remove the whole limb, back to the collar (the joint where it is attached). Don't leave stubs.

This is only a couple of the basics, I'm sure some other guys will chime in with other suggestions.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The majority of standards for pruning apply to most trees. As general rules they have their exceptions. Not being familliar with the peppertree I'll join with Brian in the generalities.

Leaves produce the carbohydrates that support the tree. So as Brian points out you cannot remove too many of the sugar factories without stressing the tree. We need to apply the 25% rule to sections of the tree as wel as the whole. If you remove 75% of one section you may loose it or it may respond by pushing out a lot of sprouts. Older trees or stressed trees may be just putting out enough feaf to survive so a minimalistic aproach is needed.

In removing large branches, it is best to reduce them over time, so that the plant becomes acustomed to the reduction in that part of the system. Also a primary tenent of arboriculture is to keep wounds as small as possible, thus reducing the size of future decay.

For more: http://search.dogpile.com/texis/search?q=CODIT&geo=no&fs=web
http://search.dogpile.com/texis/search?q=decay+trees&geo=no&fs=web

In managing the growth of trees we want to encorage a central leader, this is not to sat that we want only single stemed plants, but to ensure that onther sections of the tree do not weaken the center. If large low limbs begin to allocate most of the resorces from the roots then the center may declin. The same can be true if the side with the most sun "takes off" nad shades out the center. So pruning to control size and direction of the crown is needed on landscape trees.

A good pruner will climb out to the area that needs the work so as to get a good angle on the cut and not leave a stup or tear the bark as the cut fails. Then there is the use of lifts to be able to work the outer canopy in a more efficent way. But I digress fro the mamangement of small trees by a home owner. For more on proper pruning here is another search on that topic.

http://search.dogpile.com/texis/search?q=proper+pruning&geo=no&fs=web

Now, who read this far?

 

[Dave]

Me, not counting links.