• Blog
    • General Gardening
    • Gardening for Children
    • Gardening Videos
    • Insect Pests
    • Landscape Design
    • Trees
    • Vegetables & Fruits
    • Weeds
  • About Us
    • How to Become an Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer
    • The Association
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Event Announcements
  • Gardening Videos
  • Youth Outreach
  • The Learning Garden
    • The Learning Garden Program Schedule – 2023
  • Garden Helpline
    • Collecting Samples of Plants and Insects
  • Resources
    • Online Gardening Resources
      • Common Tomato Diseases: How to Identify and Manage
      • Soil Testing Information for Home Gardeners
    • Western North Carolina Gardening Guide
  • 2023 WNC Gdn Symposium
Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

pruners

Time to Maintain: Last Call for Pruning Deciduous Trees

February 6, 2017

Despite what the weather feels like, we are coming to the end of winter! Now is the best time to prune most deciduous trees. Without leaves, you can see the tree framework and identify existing or potential problems.

See what needs to be pruned
It’s best to stand back and visually trace the tree’s structure. You may have to move around a bit, but look for places where limbs are rubbing together or hanging below what I like to call the “browse line.” In winter in forests where deer populations are high, you can see a browse line, where deer have “pruned” limbs off trees to the level they can reach. Sometimes, we want to create “browse lines” in our home landscapes. For example, it’s desirable to prune trees planted in or around a parking area or sidewalk to a height above the heads of folks walking to or from their cars by removing all tree limbs that hang below 7 or 8 feet.

Choose the correct pruning tools and cuts
Remove small branches with hand or pole pruners. For larger cuts, use a saw. To avoid damaging the tree when removing or cutting back large branches, use a “three-step cut” to prevent ripping the bark on the tree trunk.

Locate the point where the branch joins the trunk. Follow the branch out approximately six inches:

  1. Make the first cut from the bottom up. After a few saw strokes, you’ll feel the weight of the limb begin to squeeze the saw. Stop!
  2. Now go back and make the second cut from the top down, completely dropping the limb. Watch out! It may go suddenly.
  3. What’s left is a six-inch stub. To remove the stub, make the third cut from the top down just outside the branch collar.

Maintain the protective branch collar
On most trees, you’ll see what’s called a “collar” or ridge encircling the branch where it joins the main trunk. That collar should remain on the tree to help promote healing of the wound created when you remove the stub from the trunk. Over time, the collar becomes part of the “scab” that protects the tree from infection or rot.

Article written by Glenn Palmer, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

Resources
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/tools-to-make-the-cut
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/general-pruning-techniques

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Seasonal Chores Tags pruners, pruning, pruning trees, winter garden chores

Fall Tool Maintenance

November 14, 2015

imageAs you’re finishing up the fall garden chores it’s a good idea to get your tools repaired or maintained before you put them away. Don’t wait until you need them next spring to discover a missing bolt or broken handle on the machine or tool that you need to use. As a reminder here are some of the common tool maintenance tasks:

Hoses: Don’t leave them connected to a faucet! Freezing temps can burst the pipes as well as the hose. Take off the nozzle and drain the hose. Coil them flat or on a reel; make sure there are no kinks that may lead to a leak next time pressure is applied.

Gasoline engines: Drain or run off all the fuel in the tank. Change the oil while it’s warm, right after you shut the engine off. Check the service manual to make sure it’s the correct type or weight of oil. If the engine has gotten hard to start change the plug or haul it in for a tune up.

Electrically driven tools: Check cords for wear or cuts, particularly on hedge shears! Look the manual to see if there are other maintenance points.

Lawn mower, tiller: Clean clippings from under the mower deck and tingled stems and roots from the tiller tines. Apply a rust preventative to surfaces where the paint has worn off, perhaps using the oil drained from the engine.

imageCutting tools– pruners, clippers saws: Clean off hardened sap with mineral spirits or paint thinner. Remove rust with steel wool, then sharpen the blade or have it done professionally.

Digging tools – hoes, rakes shovels, spades, forks: remove mud and rust with a wire brush, touch up the edges with a file and then oil the blade.

Wooden handles: run over the wood lightly with fine sandpaper of steel wool and then apply a conservative, like one part linseed oil to two part mineral spirits or paint thinner. Paint a brightly colored weather resistant, band around the handle so the tool is easier to find if it’s laid in the garden.

Finally, as you complete each job put that tool back in its regular storage place and make a resolution to do likewise every time you use it next year.

By Glenn Palmer

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Seasonal Chores Tags fall garden chores, hoses, mower, pruners, tools

NC Cooperative Extension; Empowering People, Providing Solutions

Blog posts written and published by Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers in Buncombe County.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,004 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • Online Seminar: Container Gardening – Seasonal Transitions, September 21
  • Weed Solutions: Is Landscape Fabric a Good Idea?
  • Saturday Seminar: Bulbs for all Seasons, September 16
  • Native Butterfly Lifecycles in the Fall Garden, September 14
  • Gardening Video: Proper Planting—Trees and Shrubs

Categories

  • Events
    • Extension in Buncombe County
    • Extension Master Gardener Plant Clinic
    • Lectures & Seminars
    • Plant Sales
    • School Garden Grants
  • Flowers
    • Bulbs
    • Perennials & Biennials
    • Roses
    • Wildflowers
  • Gardening for Children
  • Gardening Videos
  • General Gardening
    • Installation & Planting
    • Mulch
    • Native Plants
    • Propagation
    • Seasonal Chores
    • Soils & Fertilizers
  • Houseplants
  • Landscaping
    • Firewise Landscaping
    • Landscape Design
    • Site Conditions
    • Water Management
  • Lawns
  • Pest Management
    • Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
    • Invasive Plants
    • Pesticides
    • Weeds
  • Plant Diseases
  • Plant Insects
    • Beneficial Insects
    • Insect Pests
    • Invasive Insects
  • Shrubs
  • Special Gardens
    • Container Gardens
    • Herb Gardens
    • Pollinator Gardens
    • Rain Gardens
    • Shade Gardens
  • Trees
  • Vegetables & Fruits
  • Wildlife

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

Events

Keep up with our events by subscribing to the blog or checking our Events Calendar.

Explore the Archives

Back to Top

Copyright © 2023 Extension Master Gardeners of Buncombe County. Privacy Policy.