Thinning trees

[Treeaddict]

How many of you recommend and preform thinning (interior foliage removal) on yard trees? Is it species specific? A client had a company recommend that he should thin his magnolias. I’m open to changing my opinion that thinning is not necessary. The tree will self thin if a branch is not productive. I’m aware of the research that both supports and opposes (mostly opposes) thinning. I don’t subscribe necessarily to “nature knows best”. Nature may want the magnolia taken down to feed fungus. The owner wants to keep it standing.

What do you say regarding thinning?

 

[Mick!]

Back in the 90s my old boss used to do a lot of this.
He called it ‘cleaning out’ basically all growth to the first fork in a primary branch, and a bit more, depending on species, circumstance etc.
Alongside a lift of lighter low branches, he used to say it meant you could see the tree better.
He had a point.

Does not exist as a procedure now in the UK.
It was easy work, but fairly pointless and temporay.

 

[Mellow]

Much of the pruning work we do is to please the customer's desires, and that is often contrary to what is best for the trees. Most residential suburban trees would be healthier and live longer if we just left them alone. From a practical standpoint, that is not feasible. Clearance from structures, roadways, sidewalks, etc. must be maintained. Also, most folks want their trees to look "clean", so thinning is a necessary evil. We strive to strike a balance between what looks good and what's best for the health of the trees. As for Magnolias, I say leave them alone. Except for an occasional clearance cut, I recommend not cutting anything. And definitely do not thin them.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Which magnolia? I see only two around me, M.soulageana and M. grandiflora. They are very different either by their aspects and by he work asked. I have to deal mostly with M. grandiflora. Its massive crown with evergreen leaves is very heavy visually. Most of the time, I'm asked to reduce the high and the width of the crown, or at least to give it a more regular shape. So, only pruning (and dead wooding). But actually, with an overall reduction, the three can appear seriously thinned. No choice.
But I don't want to thin it because that suppress the limbs usually preserved during a reduction. As likely the customer will ask a reduction a few years later, a thinning will reduce severely the possibilities for the new cuts.

 

[Treeaddict]

Which magnolia? I see only two around me, M.soulageana and M. grandiflora. They are very different either by their aspects and by he work asked. I have to deal mostly with M. grandiflora. Its massive crown with evergreen leaves is very heavy visually. Most of the time, I'm asked to reduce the high and the width of the crown, or at least to give it a more regular shape. So, only pruning (and dead wooding). But actually, with an overall reduction, the three can appear seriously thinned. No choice.
But I don't want to thin it because that suppress the limbs usually preserved during a reduction. As likely the customer will ask a reduction a few years later, a thinning will reduce severely the possibilities for the new cuts.

Magnolia Grandiflora or Southern Magnolia as it’s called here. I can totally understand reduction cuts which I may preform due to driveway infringement but interior thinning seems inappropriate. I get that they are heavy when in seed but still.