Every Pruning Cut Needs a Reason
Set a pruning objective before choosing a cut.
The useful move is to make the invisible judgement visible before the crew acts. ISA pruning guidance starts from a biological premise: every cut changes tree growth and creates a wound the tree must respond to. That is why pruning should begin with a reason, not with a percentage or a shape preference. The common reasons are removing dead, diseased, weakly attached, or low-vigor branches; raising for clearance; reducing size by cutting to appropriate laterals; and selectively improving structure. The mechanism is resource allocation and wound response. A tree cannot heal like skin; it compartmentalizes injury and grows around it.…
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