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Over-pruning causes sprouting
This mass of sprouts resulted from removing too many low branches at one time. When trees sprout like this suspect that the tree is under stress from a root problem or has been over-pruned. Prevent this by pruning regularly so small amounts of foliage )less than about 25%) need to be removed at one time. Waiting longer than about 4 years (southern US) or 6 years (northern US) may be too long.
