is this tree over thinned?

[Porkbrick]

two before and afters. first tree i would say yes, a bit. 2nd tree i wonder what yall think.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Neither looks too much to me, both areas in a better balance now. Are you considering new growth when you say that you think too much has been removed?

 

[sotc]

Depends on species. My pruning mantra is 'less is more'. Fwiw, I would not have pruned the leylandii near as much as you did. Couldn't say about these two

 

[MasterBlaster]

It's so hard to tell from pics, most of the time.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Looks like you had a lot of dead in that tree to deal with also. I am guessing it opened up more than you probably thought it should. Both trees looked like they were far overdue. You probably had a lot of growth that needed to go just from crossing and what not. They look fine to me in the afters. I would be hard pressed from looking at pictures on line to say if should have been less or more on a prune. You do a fine job pruning. The trees look good and balanced in growth even in the interior of the canopy. I would have to be in the tree person to say different.
I also use Willie's mantra

 

[Porkbrick]

i too think less is more. my boss has other ideas however. i try to strike a balance. these are both coast live oaks. my crew did the first tree while i did the second. i try to prune in such a was as to not see a bunch off big cuts, and no watersprouts down the road. the reason i ask is that the city of Menlo Park guy stopped by the job and said we pruned too hard, got me to wondering and wanting some feedback. i appreciate your input, its always nice to hear from other pros

 

[sotc]

Yeah, I tried to stick with 10-15% canopy removed at the most on those when I was down that way. Only one here that I know of though

 

[Porkbrick]

2nd tree from the other side

 

[canadiantreeman]

There's some big holes in the first one, the second looks more balanced. Nice job. I agree with the 'less is more' motto. About the city guy saying you prune too hard; the balance of art and science for the field practitioner is a delicate tightrope. It is easy to judge the work of someone else, far more difficult to look at your own with a discerning eye. You seem to do a good job, mang.

 

[Knotahippie]

Live Oak?

It'll all be back + some, in a couple years.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Just wondering, do you guys take surrounding growth into consideration when pruning? Nobody has mentioned that the thick growth around the first two trees, might call for a heavier pruning of them than what might be the case if the trees were standing alone, to give an overall balance beyond just the tree. Perhaps I am thinking incorrectly?

There are some exquisite ancient gardens in Kyoto, real national treasures. My favorite places, ones that nearly take my breath away, it is uncanny to me how the gardeners of old could design a garden that sits in front of a completely natural environment, say a woods perhaps combined with a wild growth of bamboo. The tightly manicured trees and shrubbery contrast with the natural environment behind, but there is also a flowing between them where they highlight each other in a very pleasing way that stretches your eye. The beauty of both environments, though cultivated very differently, becomes enhanced and joined. The gardeners seemed to understand how the visual priorities would play out as the garden aged and grew. Some real powerful vision and sensitivity there, it impresses me to no end. Indeed, most appropriate places for when one might wish to compose poems to the moonlight, as they sometimes did while strumming some strange sounding instrument called a biwa.

 

[Bounce]

Doesn't seem too bad to me.

 

[lumberjack]

My thought is thinning is up to the customer, it's almost always, almost entirely, for their benefit. Most pruning/trimming is that way.

 

[squisher]

I agree with most here 1st tree to much, 2nd tree looks better imo.

I mostly agree with Carl though.

 

[bill22]

Look good to me,but i'm used to Florida pruning.

 

[Burnham]

Ditto Carl and Justin...I'm not in the biz, and I'm for sure not criticizing, but I have never seen a tree that needed pruning except to help it interact with people.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Many people can have a decent enough overall sense of pleasant when they see something nice, like good landscape. If you ask the general public type person how to reach that finality, though, most don't have the training or experience to know or describe. "Just do it in a nice way that I should like", would be a great set of instructions from the public, but following their instructions beyond that and it gets dicey. If bad is for their benefit, I guess so be it.....but a waste, imo.

 

[Old Monkey]

In light of the species being one of the prime targets of Sudden Oak Death, I would say they looked over pruned and perhaps(hard to tell from a picture) a bit lion tailed. Its tough because sometimes an oak can look that way just as a result of deadwooding.

 

[Porkbrick]

if it were up to me, i would not thin trees at all. deadwood and some end weight on heavy branches. trees can take care of themselves, but we are selling a product and customers expect quantitative (quantity of brush that is) results for their money. jay, yes, i try to take into account surrounding trees and landscape. when i first started working here we would round over the crowns, and almost as a rule, reduce, trees. this lead to some bigger cuts quite often to bring in a lanky head or branch. i don't do that any more. if i am tasked with thinning a tree i try to keep all my cuts under 2" or so, most times i don't even use a chainsaw. i do like to define the shape of the crown though, not round it over but more smooth it out and separate the crowns of adjacent trees. i love trees (dork), and i take pride in my work. thanks again for the input.

jaime

p.s. i would love to see some pics of good and bad (not horrible though, we all know what those look like and they belong in another thread) pruning jobs from others

 

[Porkbrick]

we also did a root crown on the largest oak on the property (seen behind and to the right of the second tree), the Menlo Park boys went by again as we were digging (at 3:30) and told us the tree was city property and were we removing itthis is what the root crown (or lack thereof) looked like. i see oaks like this all the time. and people wonder why they die:roll:

 

[Knotahippie]

Now, just cover the unsightly area with some big river-rocks.

Good as new!

 

[SkwerI]

Pretty serious root girdling there. Nursery trees pulled out of the containers and plopped in the hole with no care or thought. I see it every day, everywhere.

 

[Porkbrick]

Now just cover the unsightly area with some big river-rocks.

Good as new!

but i just had to spend half an hour getting the river rocks AWAY from the trunk!

 

[Porkbrick]

Pretty serious root girdling there. Nursery trees pulled out of the containers and plopped in the hole with no care or thought. I see it every day, everywhere.

its a native tree, older than the house. they buried it so bad the only roots it has left are adventitious roots. there's no scale in the pic but the trunk is about three and a half feed dbh.

 

[Treepreacher51]

I think the trees look good. If the customer was happy and you were too, I see no reason to let the unsolicited opinions of the city guys to make you question your work.

You went into the job with what seems like a healthy tree pruning philosophy regarding less is more. Unless you think or thought the prune was likely to stress he tree and start its decline, fugetaboutit. Pics seldom do justice but looks alright from where I'm sitting.