Thinning the canopy

Before thinning: Canopy is full of foliage; customer wanted thinner canopy. To thin the canopy, remove branches from the edge of the canopy as shown below. This tree is much more dense on the lower left part of the canopy. Photos courtesy Scott Shultz.

After thinning: Most removed foliage should come from branches and stems that compete with the leader. More branches were removed from the lower left part of the tree because the canopy was more dense there.