"You butchered it!"

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The job I'm in now is the worst pruning I've done, I think. Already twice topped deodor cedars (38), 2 maples, one doug-fir. Not really worrying about little stubs. Building clearance pruning at an apartment complex, where the maintenance staff does everything they can reach from ladders and the rooftops.

I'm just giving 4' lateral and 10' vertical clearance. Lots of reduction cuts. Lots of sprouts and drooping long thin branches, so I cut back to a lateral AMAP, quickly. The doug-fir is the only non-topped one out of 41. It gets treated as normal. I think that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Property manager's don't care about stubs, they care about roof cleaning and roof/ siding damage. I feel like what I imagine line clearance to be like, without the danger.
 
30 years ago, I TD'd a magnolia as a city job. I had it down to a 4' stub and my only saw broke. We were supposed to get back to it the next day, but the city sent me off to other jobs instead. The stub was located at an intersection I frequently passed through. Long story short, over the years I watched it sucker out, develop, and grow all the way back to the size it was before - about 30'.
 
Magnolias are natural re-formers for sure.

You really kicked the crap outa that water oak Butch, but it wasn't much of a middle crown to start with. I try to stick to a 3" limit with rottable species like water oak, even smaller with birch. No reason for that kinda mess. Tree owners understand good pruning when they see it; we can make our own local customs better. I'd sell my horse before cutting an oak in half but that's just me.

SST I like your specs--simple but defendable. Vagueness does not work well in contracts.
SCOPE: An oak that is 6’ wide at the base. ~5’ of that is hollow. Extensive root damage.
OBJECTIVE: Reduce the load and the risk by retrenching the crown. Lower maintenance.
SPECIFICATIONS:
1. Remove all dead branches >1” diameter.
2. Reduce downward and horizontal segments of overextended branches, clearing the branches below by 2’-4’. Cuts <3” to upright laterals, <8% total foliage
3. Thin crowded branches back to the collars. <4% total foliage, <3” cuts
4. Reduce declining leaders 3’-6’. Smallest cut possible, near vigorous growth or buds.
5. In an area between 3’ and 20’from the trunk, use air/water tool to make holes 18” apart, >2” wide and >12” deep. Force 50% compost/50% soil conditioner under pressure into the holes. Mulch with 2” woodchips.
 
treelooker said:
Magnolias are natural re-formers for sure.

You really kicked the crap outa that water oak Butch, but it wasn't much of a middle crown to start with. I try to stick to a 3" limit with rottable species like water oak, even smaller with birch. No reason for that kinda mess. Tree owners understand good pruning when they see it; we can make our own local customs better. I'd sell my horse before cutting an oak in half but that's just me.

SST I like your specs--simple but defendable. Vagueness does not work well in contracts.
SCOPE: An oak that is 6’ wide at the base. ~5’ of that is hollow. Extensive root damage.
OBJECTIVE: Reduce the load and the risk by retrenching the crown. Lower maintenance.
SPECIFICATIONS:
1. Remove all dead branches >1” diameter.
2. Reduce downward and horizontal segments of overextended branches, clearing the branches below by 2’-4’. Cuts <3” to upright laterals, <8% total foliage
3. Thin crowded branches back to the collars. <4% total foliage, <3” cuts
4. Reduce declining leaders 3’-6’. Smallest cut possible, near vigorous growth or buds.
5. In an area between 3’ and 20’from the trunk, use air/water tool to make holes 18” apart, >2” wide and >12” deep. Force 50% compost/50% soil conditioner under pressure into the holes. Mulch with 2” woodchips.
Click to expand...

When your descriptive like that it takes away the ? why was his estimate hire than the other guys , I do the same thing on trimming then theres no confusion at the end of the job with the customer expectations
 
Is retrenching the newer and longer word for trimming?


I might tell my barber next week that Id like a retrenchment.....
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #64
You all know that type? License plate says bnasty, confrontational metrosexual . He comes starts yelling right away you wrecked the tree there's nothing left blah blah blah.
I kept my mouth closed kept working and can see he is still upset his last comment was"what you got no comment?".
I just had to. "Your opinion is based on what? He looked confused for a bit tuned around and went inside.
My bad should of just told him to talk to the condo board. Couldn't resist and not liking being disrespected.
Enjoy your day
 
Ha, good answer. Not rude, just, probing.
 
That is a good reply. On the other hand, if he cared to tell you, it might have required many hours of your time and listening to a lot more than you would ever want to know about his personal life.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #69
Met briefly with property manager the other day and let it be known that I had only asked a simple question after being yelled at by the pimple head HO.
Either way condo work is the shits. Back there again today to do large white pine reduction and finish the yng tree training and another ho comes over and asks what I was doing.
Picking bananas!
Pruning for structure and health is what I actually said. Its getting real tiresome at this point.
Mb next time I will say its going to cost 150dollars for me to explain to you what i am doing.

its good work with many really appreciative with plenty of thanks and smiles. HO last yr on this property set us table with meats and chees and hot coffee and at the end of day today wanted to give me an extra 20 bucks for knocking back an apple tree, I passed it on to Paul my new guy/good guy.
 
Yesterday I had to explain 2 jobs that their trees where topped in the passed couple years and then left to grow huge secondary growth. This is how one of them went. I walk in the back yard and immediately regreted coming. The home owner says "this is my baby and only shade, but would like to clean it up a bit and get it off the roof". I tell him that the tree is a box elder or Manitoba maple (Acer negundo), "It is described by some as “dirty” or “trashy” because it sheds, suckers, often has multiples stems, an irregular crown form, is prone to wind and ice damage, and is short-lived. Its high propensity for seeding into flower beds sometimes makes it a weed. Driving home even further damage, its wood is described as not being especially useful." The tree is also really prone to decay and including branches. Home owner says "it's a maple?" I tell him it has been topped and all its branches are secondary growth, i explain how it has been improperly pruned and has decay in every main branch and trunk union, i explain how i couldnt even climb on any of its branches because they are poorly attached. His reply "But i like my Tree" In my mind i repeated But do you like your house more. I explain to him that i dont top trees and that i couldnt associate my company with that practice. I offered to dead wood and clear his roof. Then gave him the really awkward you should remove this tree its not safe and its a liability to you home. I got the "but I like my tree" my mind said ya didnt when you hired a hack to top it. home owner says "if this was your tree in your yard what would you do?" I said I have a yard and i had Manitoba maples and i cut them all down because they were poor structure and invasive and in poor location. The wife of the owner agreed with everything we were saying and i made it clear what needed to happen so now its a waiting game on the choice of prune for no reason or removal for good reason. anyways i would like to know what people think about dealing with topped trees as far as pruning them like 10 years after they were topped because i had a locust with the same problem on the same day and i priced both removal and prune and the removal is sadly close in price $500 prune and $850 for the removal just because its easier to spur and cut secondary growth. I will get some pictures soon as Im on site. the maple is in the back yard and is about 60dbh and was topped 20 feet from the ground. the honey locust was is about a 50cm dbh and was topped 25 feet up and has about 10cm diameter or lager growth from callus, its located in the front yard but 1 third is over the house.
 
I've retopped previously topped trees before. To common of a crappy practice to not.

Will that Manitoba be safer with your deadwooding and clearance? Or with a complete re-topping with instruction/recommendations to the client to have it re-visited or redone in a few years?
 
I always try to explain to those interested/capable of listening. But sometimes you can't help stupid, yet you can still spend their money.
 
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