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I finally stopped pruning oaks in spring after 11 years in the biz
Used to think I was helping by taking off dead limbs before summer storms, but my mentor in Austin showed me how oak wilt spreads through fresh cuts from April to June. Anybody else have to unlearn a bad habit that took way too long to catch?
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derekgibson28d ago
How long did it take before you stopped feeling like a hack every time you left a dead limb on a tree? I'm three years into the no spring pruning rule and I still get that itch when I see a big dead branch hanging over a driveway. The beetle dormancy thing is key to understand too, because a lot of guys just think "paint the cut and it's fine" but the beetles are still active during those warm spring days even if the sap isn't flowing yet. What finally clicked for me was realizing that a dead branch in May is way less dangerous than a fresh wound that turns into a fungal highway by August.
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cora_martinez2mo ago
The whole oak wilt thing is one of those lessons that stings when you finally get it. I was cutting deadwood in May for years before I realized I was basically leaving the door open for beetles to spread the fungus. Now I just tape up any wound over 2 inches with pruning sealer if I absolutely have to cut during the growing season, but I try to do all my oak work between November and February when the beetles are dormant. It feels wrong at first leaving dead branches on through a storm season but honestly the tree handles it better than a fresh cut during the active spread window. I keep a can of pruning paint in my truck just in case I accidentally snag a branch with a bush hog or something.
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