| Gilman, E.F. and J.C. Grabosky |
| 2008 |
| Response of two oak species to reduction pruning cuts: 3rd year observations |
|
Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 34: |
| Reduction pruning cuts shorten a growth axis (branch or stem) by removing the distal end to a smaller lateral branch (Gilman 2002, Gilman and Lilly 2002). These cuts are commonly used in reduction and subordination pruning to meet a variety of pruning objectives that require a general reduction in canopy size (Gilman and Lilly 2002, ANSI 2001). It is commonly acknowledged that the remaining lateral branch ought to be at least one third to one half of the diameter of the removed portion in part to prevent failure of the residual lateral branch retained to assume the terminal role for the remaining branch (Gilman and Lilly 2002, Harris et al. 2004). When locating the final cut of the main axis, the desired cut is conventionally defined by bisecting the angle between the remaining lateral branch’s branch bark ridge and the plane perpendicular to the direction of the main growth axis (Gilman 2002, Harris et al. 2004) since cutting at a larger angle from perpendicular would potentially harm the remaining lateral branch due to dieback from the cut stem. No published data is generally available which suggests or explicitly tests the validity of the accepted practices in determining the preferred lateral branch or angle of reduction pruning cut. |