Florida Turf & Landscape - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

many species. Watersprouts are usually weakly attached and prone to breaking at the point of attachment. Crown density can increase substantially due to watersprout production, resulting in a loss of tree form and reduction in light penetration. Also, excessive pruning can lead to sunburn injury to bark tissue of branches and the trunk. NOTE: Not more than 25% of the crown shall be removed within an annual growing season. The percentage of foliage removed shall be adjusted according to age, health, and species considerations. Stressed trees are less tolerant of pruning and leaf area removal should be minimal and adjusted accordingly. In cases where more than 25% of the crown needs to be removed, such as to reduce the potential for structural failure, such pruning should be scheduled over a two- or three -year period. Pruning should be minimal on these predominant species prone to watersprout development and susceptible to sunburn injury, pruning shall not expose bark tissue of the trunk and scaffold branches to sunlight levels that lead to injury. C. WHEN TO PRUNE The time of year to prune may vary depending on pruning needs, objectives, and species to be pruned. Generally, Live Oaks and Black Olive trees can be pruned throughout the year, but the following times need to be avoided: 1) when leaves are forming or falling. Pruning to remove dead, diseased, or broken branches can be done at any time of year. D. PRUNING EQUIPMENT (pruners and saws) To promote callus development and wound closure, it is important to make clean pruning cuts. Bark surrounding the cut should not be torn, shredded, stripped away, or otherwise separated from the wood. This can be accomplished by using pruning equipment that is sharp and sized appropriately for the job. Clean, well- maintained equipment (blades, chains, bars, and air /fuel filters) produces cleaner cuts with less effort, improves worker safety, and reduces the potential for the spread of pathogens. 3. Pruning Mature Trees A. PRUNING TYPES As noted in section A, FT &L will prune trees to achieve various objectives. For Example, to meet the objective(s) identified for a mature tree, several different types of pruning can be employed: cleaning, thinning, raising, reduction, and restoration. Each of these pruning types is described in the following publications: ANSI A300 Standards and Best Management Practices: Tree Pruning (see References). Since these pruning types will be used to achieve specific objectives, it is also important to select the appropriate type to match the objective. If the height or spread of a tree needs to be reduced to improve structural integrity, then crown reduction pruning should be selected. Or, if the density of the crown needs to be reduced for pest management purposes, then branch removal pruning (thinning) should be selected. The City of Sunny Isles requires tree clearances for the following situations: pedestrians on sidewalks, foliage obstructing streetlights and signals, and vehicles on roadways. Street trees should be pruned to maintain a 14 -foot vertical clearance over curbing, and 8 -foot clearance over sidewalks. To avoid excessive pruning to achieve these clearance requirements, pruning should be initiated when the tree is young, and continued through maturity. Pruning over several seasons to achieve these results is preferable to single - season pruning. In certain cases, such as to abate safety hazards, pruning may be needed that exceeds standards for canopy removal in a season. FLORIDA TURF AND LANDSCAPE RFP 12 -05 -01 Page 13 of 26