Don't be a Hack | How to prune a tree | arborist tips & tricks

More resources at www.stridertrees.com/ Strider is focused on training the next generation of climbers, arborists and other tree workers in safer, more efficient work practices at height and on the ground.
A quick primer on making good cuts and deciding which branches to prune. Remember, a proper pruning is highly dependent on the species, and while these tips will generally apply to most trees, be sure to do your research before attempting any major pruning.
Edit: I said “Deciduous” evergreen, but meant “broadleaf” evergreen. “Deciduous” means it loses its leaves annually which these trees Do NOT they are evergreen, meaning they keep the majority of their leaves all year, photosynthesizing all winter. ( although they do tend to shed some leaves in the fall and produce more in the spring)
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[@mikerobinson8284]

Can you clarify 4:50, it’s an evergreen deciduous?

[@Stridertrees]

Indeed ! It keeps it’s leaves year round, but they are broadleaf trees, not conifers.

[@Stridertrees]

I should clarify better. That was my mistake, “Deciduous” refers to trees that lose their leaves annually but I meant to say “broadleaf” evergreen.

[@wcakgilleran]

@@Stridertrees Interior Live Oak can be partially deciduous due to drought conditions. They can lose leaves and dormant buds will break in the spring. But they're mostly evergreen. Coast Live Oak on the other hand stays 100% evergreen.

[@briankennedy1313]

kgilleran hahahaha a drought does not make a broadleaf evergreen deciduous. What is with these ridiculous pontifications??? What about a declining live oak? Also “partially deciduous? And what if said drought happens in the summer? You know? When droughts typically occur? Still partially deciduous? Wow. 🤦‍♂️

[@woodpeckerarborist]

I think the term you all are looking for is “Semi-Evergreen”. Meaning a deciduous tree that does not lose all of one season’s leaves before the next season’s emerge. This is normally due to the tree species evolving in a harsher environment than it is planted in currently. Chinese elms / Ulmus parvifolia do this in my area (San Jose, CA) all the time & the same tree can vary year to year depending on conditions. To my knowledge, true evergreen trees generally hold an individual leaf for 3-4 years, but this can vary significantly.

[@tyronereese7447]

Thanks! I'm a self employed landscaper/maintainer. This vid shows I don't respect the pruning process as much as I should. For one, I do not sani my cutters often enough nor do I use the reasoning you have for selecting cuts aside from dead and drooping limbs. Very informative.

[@rickhaller3328]

I enjoyed seeing the thought process on what to remove and where to make the cuts.

[@samsquanch3718]

I would love to see a video on how to repair and correct poorly pruned trees. Like lions tail, water sprouts, and topping.

[@Stridertrees]

I wish there were more useful insights for those situations. Usually it boils down to having a client who is willing to have you out multiple years in a row. It often. takes way more than one pruning session to remedy major issues like that

[@samsquanch3718]

@@Stridertrees Thanks for the response.

[@jeffreytasende3059]

Great info. I do a ton of these in South Florida and I agree with your ideology 💯 percent.

[@cliffbushong2396]

I learned something again, I do every time I watch you,thank you again.

[@robertgroseth6630]

Well-presented video on how to prune and shape a tree. Very helpful!

[@paulshiels5821]

Very informative. You present yourself very well.

[@vincentmunoz7957]

Great info throughout the video

[@derekshort375]

Thank you very much very useful and marketable knowledge. Greatly appreciated

[@farmermillar]

Great stuff, thank you for the video!

[@matthewhutter4933]

I love the headline. Don't be hack. I come from a town where every tree residential tree guys don't know how to trim properly. Drives me nuts

[@tracyrobinson6175]

The video and some of the comments here talk about beetles but not Oak Wilt which is crazy here in Michigan. Were not allowed to prune or remove Oaks except in winter

[@elizabethpenrose3808]

Wow! I wish I could climb a tree like that. Thank you for the tip on how to prune a tree. 😊

[@jeffadams492]

Looks great thanks for another informative video

[@andrehak]

Great video man, rock on!

[@kawh8719]

I love your helmet, thank you for posting this video!

[@blainerichard8055]

What are the best tools for pruning on a tree that starting to shade out my garden is it best to use a ripsaw chainsaw or a pool tree pruners

[@MoonAndTheMexican]

I would like to see even closer where you are cutting, like zoom on in there! Thanks for this info!

[@caravann26]

Silky back pull saws are the absolute best

[@lesorub_arborist]

Well done! 👍 Greetings from Russia!

[@carlobernardi1387]

Cool process....small 🌲 to prun...never stop learning...😁😁😁

[@Jamie-vp2yb]

Hey bro, what's the length on that tsurugi? I'm looking at buying one, they look sick

[@thomasbyrne7770]

GREAT INFORMATION, WELL PRESENTED. TOM BYRNE

[@JacobAHull-nx6rx]

Great info..thanks

[@alexmccumba2591]

Looks great

[@MrBrycito]

Can you do a before and after picture side by side at the end next time?

[@fp1912]

Thank you!

[@devoncsmith2696]

There are times where if a branch is too small to cut; a pair of secateurs is better than a pruning saw itself otherwise it will tear and can cause disease in the future.

[@pokeydiaz210]

He said just this I just imagine he was being lazy since he was making the video but I learned from him saying this

[@pmccarthy001]

How does one tell if the limb is dead, or dying? Particularly with pine trees, as that's 90% of what I've got in my yard.

[@lilyh1039]

What I want to know is how to angle cut a branch. If it’s angled,swhich direction the new shoot goes.

[@chazcarpenter1559]

At the beginning “trees can catch a cold too” i learned something new

[@RafaelRodrigueZ-lz2mc]

He was just making a reference that trees can get sick, or get bacteria from other trees!

[@kingslew1866]

Thanks!

[@zippy212100]

I live in MN. It is my understanding live pursuing, especially oaks, should. Be done in winter. My concern is if I target dead or dying branches, how do I identify them since the leaves would now have fallen from the tree? TIA RJ

[@SuperOhdannyboy]

If a limb is dead cut it of whenever. .With Live limbs,nowadays the powers that be have decided that summer or late summer pruning is Ok because the tree is able to heal up faster. Don’t take more than 20% of the live canopy. Best not to prune right after the tree has expended it’s energy with new leaves. Try not to prune off anything that is wider than your finger tips to your wrist. Only if you must.

[@Triplaglol]

Broafleaf evergreen* not evergreen deciduous... By the way that tree has a codominant stem, does it have bark inclusion because that tree will eventually fail if it does...

[@ianbredell5159]

Check out Original Lowe pruners, you'll love them. Love your videos.

[@scoobdoo2008]

I didn't know it took so much for tree cutting. All I wanted to do is cut some branches that are cutting up my car because its grown so much. Now Im not sure if I want to cut anything.

[@derekfowler5503]

Live oaks are nice to work.on..ive never heard of pass through pruners...but bypass are available everywhere...the only thing that is silky about the draw of that saw is the name.I have tried silky and the action is not smooth..the saw is too big for most of the cuts that you are doing ..that style of cutting with that sized saw will always result in tear cuts.. for efficiency.would be better with felco or infaco electronic with a small or medium blade...those cuts could be shown to your arborist friends

[@Billster1955]

Thanks

[@baswordfish]

In France, especially in south of France, in Dordogne where I'm, we have a lot of very similar trees, quercus ilex (chêne vert), because the leaves are like ilex (houx, holly). The wood is heavy, very hard, we have planty of them on our land, because it's dry, hot and ful of limestone. One is probably very old (more than 300 years old). Some old leaves are falling during the summer, just a part, and the tree still "evergreen". The wood is beautiful, used to make knives handle. We cut some falling old and big quercus ilex, and the middle was deep black, not rooten, hard and amazing, because of a begginig of disease , very nice! In our county, they are planted for truffle (expensive mushroom).

[@2006jakebob]

Dude, your thumbnail makes you look like someone out of a sci fi movie like Starship Troopers

[@julianalderson3938]

Everyone has there ideas on it. One love to c is ornamental pear. Only cos they go mental. Thanx

[@nicksanders9140]

I'd love to see more live oak pruning

[@SuperOhdannyboy]

Same procedure except it takes 3 times longer because of the density. I’m talking about California Coast live Oaks. Some interior Coast live Oaks in California or say Holly Oaks just forget thining the trees and just reduce back heavy end weight of thin the tips. I have been an ISA certified arborist for 25 years or 28 years of tree work.

[@markc2152]

In my limited experience of growing stuff if it doesn’t se the sun it needs to go , but maybe not all at once

[@KohalaTreeService]

it's not a true evergreen, because it does loose its leaves, but it happens so fast that it appears like an evergreen. so I think its kinda both? unlike other deciduous oaks, these gradually lose and replace all their leaves annually

[@ThePYoung937]

Love the protos dude. Is that a dip job or something?

[@Stridertrees]

Actually Edify&co designed the decal, and installed it for me. They’ve been doing All the graphics for Strider trees and do such a good job!

[@ThePYoung937]

How’d you get it white?

[@user-vg8rx6cv8e]

Are you allowed to have the tree of Gondor as your brand logo? I was going to use it for mine lol

[@Stridertrees]

Ehhhh 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@happydays7143]

I need you in my garden 🙈

[@proxy7863]

Great video. Most pruning should take place in the summer months and not the dormant season though.

[@wcakgilleran]

Pruning live oak is fine all year long. You actually wouldn't want to thin or prune for crown reduction in the summer due to risk of sunscald if you go to heavy. Pruning most trees in the dormant season if fine. Especially pine due to the risk of bark beetles.

[@kyleostrowski9670]

In northern states it's imperative to prune Oaks in the cooler weather, oak wilt is common and spreads via roots once it establishes. If one needs to be pruned at at unsafe time we will spray it with pruning spray

[@carterallen3683]

4:48 what is an evergreen deciduous tree? I thought ever greens were trees that didn’t lose their leaves and a deciduous tree was a tree that loses its leaves?

[@Stridertrees]

I meant to say evergreen broadleaf. It’s a tree with leaves that don’t fall every winter.

[@carterallen3683]

@@Stridertrees Okay makes sense haha great videos man. Thanks for the content.

[@turtlezed]

I find my silky too coarse a saw for fine pruning, you need a fine tooth pruning saw and bypass shears, as you say,for these small jobs....

[@briankennedy1313]

Hmmm. So silky makes about ever tooth configuration imaginable. As well every size blade and shape imaginable. Yeah silky is totally the wrong brand for pruning.

[@turtlezed]

@@briankennedy1313 hmmmm smart@@@ reply Brian....average climber will be rockin a zubat or similar with coarse teeth. What i thought id expressed was the need for a fine tooth saw cos hes clearly struggling to cut those smaller diameter branches cleanly in this vid...

[@briankennedy1313]

turtlezed I guess I wasn’t clear. SILKY MAKES FINE TOOTH, MEDIUM TOOTH, LARGE TOOTH, AAAAAAANNNDDDD EXTRA LARGE TOOTH. They go even further to specify the teeth per inch. They carry about 20 different styles all with 4 to 5 teeth configurations.

[@turtlezed]

@@briankennedy1313 im thinking mountain, molehill mate, most ppl will know what i meant.

[@briankennedy1313]

turtlezed if you can’t make a clean, perfectly finished cut with ANY given silky, you need practice. Most companies think you should be able to make a perfect cut, any diameter, any tree, with a power saw.

[@johnsanchez1770]

Cool

[@josiahswanson5518]

What is livestailing I couldn't find anything

[@jillrodriguez7524]

I think you may mean 'lion tailing', which from my Googling is a terrible way to leave a tree - all bushy on top and totally thinned out down below. It's an aesthetic thing - DON'T do it!!

[@davidweeks1997]

Felco. Yeah, most of what I saw you cut, I'd never use my saw for those cuts, I'd use my Felco hand prunner, or lopping shears. It's easier, faster, cleaner.

[@geraldroberts5288]

wow

[@dwaynemudd2870]

Cool video! Please don’t use words like “vectors” though when describing how to trim a tree!

[@kylecarson8321]

I urgently need such a helmet)

[@allisonschachter1220]

It’s really hard to see what you’re doing. Why not a close-up?

[@mrgardner6405]

Light bulbs

[@caseG80]

Showed no closeups

[@mysticmonkeyman]

Always where a helmet when hand pruning. Especially when it makes you look like a Power Ranger

[@ericgardner5548]

Local arborist says you should never lion's tail an oak tree.

[@briankennedy1313]

Doesn’t matter that those pruners are bypass. They’re awful. They rip every cut after a week or two of use. The corona bull pruner is the ONLY functioning pruner on the market. It’s black and has a totally different design and literally costs $15 more than the standard bypass shown here. I’m aware Silky makes a pruner but it’s too expensive to adapt to a regular pole and not a Hayate.

[@acfresh1]

Yeah…I think I’ll pay a gardener to do it. Too advanced for me.

[@S4udiArabia]

أين المقص الصغير 😡

[@julianalderson3938]

Think as an aborist c a tree one way. Open n yer is it right sometimes maybe not

[@curtishockman5842]

"Dont be a hack"🤣 and then prunes a live oak while its not dormant 🤣👏👏👏 great job bud

[@Stridertrees]

These live oaks don’t go dormant in this part of CA and we also don’t really have oak wilt here either so it’s even less consequential.

[@SuperOhdannyboy]

Yes dude you are ignorant on this. Plus how the F… can you hurt these monsters without chainsaws when doing topping aka crown reduction for a Live Oak in California for a million dollar view , Live Oaks with with 14 inch DBH grow 4-5 feet in a year and 10 feet in 2 they are just about unstoppable. In the background of this video it looks like unmaintained Oaks .

[@KristinBauerStuff]

So…let’s just start with…trees don’t need to be trimmed. “THEY WILL SELF PRUNE” So this is 99% for looks and the Reason trees are trimmed is that it’s the bread and butter Of arborists and people Want their trees to look a certain way. But if you fall in to those categories - get a real arborist. Not a tree trimmer and not your average run o the mill weekend graduate arborist.

[@GreatWhiteSquid]

And where'd you get your arborist degree from?

[@murphy4trees]

I like your stuff.. but you are way off the mark here, repeating total myths

[@Andrew-hw9fq]

Daniel, you should consider uploading a similar video to help educate young arborists and correct some popular misconceptions. I appreciate your contents and I think many could benefit from your expertise on this. Edit: I recognize you already have published quite a bit of content on pruning, but presenting the information in a consolidated format that details thought processes and so forth might be more helpful. Anyone looking for more in-depth explanations could resort to your more detailed content.

[@murphy4trees]

@@Andrew-hw9fq I wish I had done that years ago. It's been on my to-do list, but I've been dragging my heels. Thanks for the suggestion. Hopefully get to this winter

[@constantjardinero]

@@murphy4trees can you mention what things he mentioned that you thought are myths?

[@rodgerrain7033]

A deciduous evergreen... You need to brush up on your Horticulture.

[@stratoleft]

The magnificent Pine trees around me don't need you, or your "arborist" buddies, to prune anything whatsoever. Furthermore, the magnificent Pine tree will tower far above you, your "arborist" buddies, and any trees you ever have in your collective lives.

[@penelopetyler4048]

Cool

[@christophergrant8925]

Cool