Spent $80 on a book about tree biology and it changed how I prune everything

I always thought I knew trees pretty well after 12 years climbing them, but a customer handed me a copy of "The Hidden Life of Trees" last fall. Turns out I was cutting limbs all wrong... I was leaving stubs that rot back into the trunk instead of cutting at the branch collar. Has anyone else had a cheap book wreck their whole approach to something they thought they had figured out?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan_anderson2d ago

Honestly, did you find that the branch collar stuff totally changed how fast your cuts heal too? Tbh, I was leaving stubs for years thinking I was protecting the tree, but now my cuts close up way cleaner. Ngl, it's wild how one cheap book can make you feel like you been doing it all wrong. You ever notice how the trees just look healthier after you start cutting right?

haydenburns3d ago

Oh man, that exact book did the same thing to me! I used to just hack branches wherever and now I'm out there with my pruners analyzing every single branch angle (my neighbors probably think I'm nuts).

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