Questions on Pruning Maples

[ibby458]

As we continue to thin the sugarbush, I'm also pruning off dead limbs, low branches and other defects. I'm cutting at the branch collar, so expect most of these to heal well.

There are quite a few that I'm not sure about. Some trees have a 2-4" "water spout" coming off the trunk near ground level. (A straight stem that runs up the side of the main trunk) Can I safely cut this off at an angle close to the trunk? There is no branch collar that I can determine.

Several trees that I've come across have a weak crotch low enough that I can reach it. Is it OK to cut one of these off on the smaller trees? (3-4"). I wouldn't do it on bigger ones, but I was hoping it was safe to trim the smaller ones.

On a similiar note, how about double trunks off one root system? These might be suckers from an old, old stump, or maybe just a fork at ground level. Can I cut off one side without harm?

Finally, does it do a LOT of harm to totally remove the surrounding trees all at once? While we're right there and cutting sugarwood too, I'd rather just finish the job at one time. The Maple manual says to do it in stages, but I'd rather just get it done. (Mostly 6-12" Sugar or Black Maples, surrounded by pin cherry, elm and a few black cherry trees) The maples are almost always taller & bigger - I just want to clear it out.

I probably should point out that I don't plan to tap these trees for 3-5 years to let them recover.

[PA mapler]

Hi Ibby,

Long, long time ago I took a course at Cornell on maple syrup production, and they really stressed the "sun scald" thing if you open maples up too much. The books all say the same thing too. But since, being a forester, working in the woods, and having our own woods cut hard tells a different story. I've never seen "sun-scald", but have seen how after a year or two of being opened right up sugar maples will take right off. Saplings and maturer trees. You can tell because the faster growth exposes alot more new "cream colored" bark that hasn't been exposed and therefore oxidized gray by the sun. The faster a maple is growing, the more of this lighter colored bark will show. I've never seen any evidense that over-thinning is bad, other than maybe making trees more prone to windfall. But just my observations.

Don't know much about the pruning, other than the more live branches a maple has, the more sap it supposedly produces, and the higher the sugar %. Also, any new wound is one more place for decay/rot to enter the tree and stress it.

[maplehound]

I have talked to our state foresters on several occasions, and they all say to thin your woods but only open trees on 2 or 3 sides at a time. The reason mostly stated is to protect the tree from wind and storms. Keep in mind that the tree has grown with the support of all the surounding trees and if you take all it's support out without giving it time to streangthen between thinnings you will greatly weaken the tree. Forks and large branches may break off as well as the increased possibilitie of total loss of the tree. Just remember that the more of the tree you release the faster it will grow in the long term but the weaker you make it in the short term.

[ibby458]

I'm thinking my trees might be OK with more thinning than usual. I only own half this bush, and the other (unthinned) half is on the windward side. They should be fairly well protected from storms and gusty winds. Still - If another tree isn't directly competing with the maple, I'll probably leave it for a year or three.

My one reference book on pruning trees says to cut off weak crotches and water spouts, regardless. Then again, it also reccommends wound paint, which went out with the dodo.

[Pete S]

I went for a walk in the woods yesterday and noted some "suckers" that spur off and run up parallel to the trunk, some you could almost consider "doubles".

I "feel" these need to go.

Questions are:

When pruning, how close to the trunk should you cut?

When do you prune?

THANKS!

Pete

[Maplepro]

Ibby, How big are the water Spouts? if they are any bigger then 4 or 5 inches i would be careful cutting them off it could do more damage then good. as far as thinning i am a frim beliver in having a mixed stand but make sure they are spaced well enough that the Tops aren't crowded you can't cut to much out as long as you are shelter from the wind.

[brookledge]

I would think that after a tree has matured you are probably better off leaving inperfections unless it's something like a water spout. But as far as forks or doubles that are mature I would leave them
Keith

[802maple]

I would be careful like Keith says, you could introduce desease to the tree if it is mature. A healthy tree that has a few deformities will produce more than a dead well shape tree.

[ibby458]

I've had to move on to firewood production, so I haven't been back to the thinning yet. Actually, I think it's better NOT to prune this late in the year. THe book says you can do it anytime the saps not running, but I've seen LOTS of wounded/pruned maples (On powerlines) that bled sap like crazy from fall/winter pruning.

My sugarbush was logged flat in the 60s. As it regenerates, I have mostly clumps of trees. There might be 10-12 trees in an area the size of an average 2 car garage. So far, I've taken out about half the maples in these clumps, and ALL other species. In a few years, I'll take all but the best 2. Ash, cherry, hickory that don't directly compete with maples get left, as long as it's healthy. I'm taking out all the elms. The ones that aren't dead yet will be soon, and I'd rather not have to drop them after the maples start spreading out.

Lacking "hard" evidence either way, I cut off forks and water spouts 4-5" or less. Bigger than that, I leave them be. "Normal" limbs that are broken, damaged (porcupine chewed), or too low get cut off at whatever size they are. They seem to heal well.

Pete S - If you look close at a limb, you'll see a slight "bulge" around the base of it where it joins the trunk. Cut it off RIGHT at that collar, without damaging the collar. It'll heal best and fastest then. Makes sure you do a good undercut first, so the bark don't strip off as it falls.

I like to do my thinning as soon as the sap stops running, going into July and a bit into August. I'm putting up sugarwood then anyway, and any wounds you have to make seem to dry up and not bleed sap the next spring if cut in high summer.