Just realized I was pruning oak trees wrong for 3 years after a 70 year old arborist stopped his truck to yell at me in Raleigh.

He told me I was cutting too close to the collar on every single limb (you know, the way everyone online says to do it) and then showed me on a huge water oak how leaving a tiny bit more actually seals faster - has anyone else been taught differently by an old timer that contradicted everything you learned from YouTube?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony_wells7d ago

Have you ever run across that old trick about leaving a bit of the branch collar for oaks specifically? I recall reading in a forestry extension bulletin that water oaks are especially prone to decay if you cut too flush, which goes against a lot of the standard pruning advice you see online. That 70 year old arborist probably saved you from some serious heartwood rot down the road, I'd say.

mitchell.dakota7d agoMost Upvoted

Haven't we all learned that lesson the hard way, @anthony_wells? I swear, half the pruning advice online makes it sound like you should just cut branches off with a butter knife and call it good. I tried that "flush cut" nonsense on a young oak at my old place and it started oozing sap like a leaky faucet for weeks. That old timer probably saved you from a tree that would have rotted from the inside out and taken your roof with it when it fell. Now I leave a good inch of collar on everything, even if it looks a little goofy for a season.