The most common course of action when you notice that your trees or shrubs need additional care is to get in touch with a licensed tree surgeon. Normally, before you receive your quote, the tree surgeon will come over in-person to see what needs to be done. He will first listen to all of your requirements and questions and then inspect the tree/trees himself to see if they really require any pruning.
Now, If action is indeed required, the arborist may use some unfamiliar (to you) tree surgery terminology, which describes the work that will need to be done. Although some of these terms might sound familiar, they may actually mean something completely different.
So let’s look at what the different tree surgery terms mean and when they’re most often used. A very common term that you will be seeing a lot in this post is the word “crown”. This word refers to the framework of the tree which consists of different types of branches and shoots, as well as the foliage.
There are three main tree pruning terms that get thrown left and right quite often.
This term refers to the removal of smaller branches, usually located at the outer crown of the tree. Pruning these promotes dense foliage around the evenly spaced branch structure. Crown thinning is mainly used on broad-leaved species of trees. It’s a method that does not in any way alter the main body of the tree, in terms of size or shape. Crown thinning allows more sunlight to pass through the tree’s branches and improves the airflow.
Crown reduction refers to the reduction of the tree crown’s height and spread. The cuts used in crown reduction should be as small as possible and not go over 100 mm in diameter. This method is used for reducing the mechanical stress on certain branches or even the whole tree, in some cases. It’s also useful for reducing the effects of light loss and shading. After the crown reduction, the tree’s crown should retain its main framework with the only difference being the smaller yet similar outline (which can in cases be non-symmetrical).
Crown raising is the practice of removing or preparing to remove the lowest branches of a tree’s crown. This method is extremely effective at increasing the light transmission to areas close to the tree, while also enabling access under the crown. Crown lifting does not include the removal of the larger branches which grow directly from the tree’s trunk since cutting these can wound the tree and even cause decay. This can lead to many long-term problems for your tree in the future. Crown raising should also be avoided on older more mature trees or if necessary, it should be restricted to the shortening of their primary and secondary branches rather than their whole removal.
Aside from the main crown-related terminology, there’s also additional tree surgery lingo you can hear your tree surgeon mention. Below, we’ve provided a pretty comprehensive list of what each term means.
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