How to Prune Trees by Tagawa Gardens and Mike Landers, ISA Certified Arborist

Learn how to prune trees (including fruit trees) in your Colorado garden. Tagawa's Garden Ambassador and Certified Arborist Mike Landers show you how to prune trees to keep them healthy.
Please Note: This video is from our educational archives. All information provided is tailored to our Colorado landscapes and similar environments. If you would like more specific recommendations for your Colorado garden, please visit us in store! Our staff will be happy to help. If your climate greatly differs from ours, we recommend visiting your local garden center for further guidance!

[@michaeldougfir9807]

This is one of the nicer of the short, basic pruning videos. Nice presentation, clear voices, no wind noise, etc. One thing he was showing about hand pruners and longer loppers is to get the ones that cut like scissors. His little hand saw was excellent. One additional limb target: prune out downward growing branches. Prune out these branches: •Dead, •Diseased, •Damaged, •Downward-growing, •Dying, •Directional-crossing. •Making proper cuts is a high priority for the tree's health.

[@michaeldougfir9807]

This video is a good supplement to Mark Bays' videos for Oklahoma Forestry Services. Tool sanitation can also be accomplished by keeping a spray bottle handy that contains alcohol or peroxide-- any good germ killer.

[@angelacarson5401]

Exactly what I needed. I have a young maple tree (maybe 5 years old) that has begun to obscure our view as we back out of our driveway. We knew we needed to remove some lower branches, but had no idea how to do it!

[@vtownboxingfan]

Very informative ... thanks for the upload!

[@davidkingdon5230]

Nice - I live in England so probably can't visit, but very informative.

[@paulbroderick8438]

Greetings from a Brit living in Arizona! Yes, well explained and easy to follow.

[@terryhale9006]

Well articulated.

[@AntonioCampos-qh5jd]

i like this video 😎👌

[@thedyslexic9936]

Will a green ash grow taller if you snip out the weaker of the two leaders when the tree decides to start growing two of them at about 12 to 15 feet...and if so, does that make the tree canopy noticeably narrower? I am asking because tree heights and widths always seem to be given in a range so I was thinking unpruned with two leaders = shorter but wider and pruned to one leader = taller but narrower.

[@TagawaGardens]

Thanks for your question! We spoke to another of our arborists and she said that yes, one of the leaders should be the dominant leader to maintain a healthy tree. Two dominant leaders become weak and can break in the snow. You would need to prune the weaker of the two leaders to a side branch, but she suggests having a professional tree service do an initial structural pruning all over this tree while it is still at that size to get it off to a good start. Regarding the two leaders= shorter but wider, she said that may not be the case, location (soil, sunlight conditions, etc) and genetics determine the range of height and width. We hope this is helpful!

[@thedyslexic9936]

It's sort of funny that so many people talk about double leaders, especially with Green Ash, but all that is ever shown as an image is one that already has 3-4-5-6" limbs. It would be nice to see an image of one just before it is taken out so that a person can have an idea of what to watch for and then call an arborist if they can't take care of it themselves. My Green Ash is about 14-15' now with this years growth (2017) and the center leader has not grown at all but, instead, the tree has set two branches which to me, would indicate a dual leader situation emerging. One of them is definitely more upright and vigorous but the other does form the other half of a U and is also upward slightly but a little shorter by comparison. I was also thinking mid-June is not the time to make that call but am not sure if it is month or age that matters more (as in after a year to two to confirm the double leader). I also didn't realize you were in the UK. I am in western Canada (prairies). Thanks for the reply.