Douglas fir pruning

RegC

RegC

TreeHouser
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
2,261
Location
Victoria, BC
We do a lot of tip reduction on firs. Fast growing with often brittle and end weighted limbs that pop off indiscriminately....reduction pruning seems the most logical in and around residential areas. Several times Ive tried to video this type of work....but gave up part way through because it became too much work in itself. This tree however seemed doable....not to big, not to small. Theres one clip that shouldn't be in there, where I'm looking to see if the cameras recording....somehow I didn't edit it out, but was already too late. Use HD setting. Thanks

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aRjVtBFzMoI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Nice vid, looks like gutty work.
Do you shorten them all to a line or a percentage of each one, I would imagine that would lead to a lot of clients saying "that one stIcks out further than the others"
 
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They're often pretty uniformed to start with Mick....so retaining the shape is easy enough.
 
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Not before Pete. But, I might be able to get one later today if I go that way in the truck.
 
Work positioning! Working horizontally in a vertical environment. Cool to see that. I liked seeing how your over the shoulder system advanced your SRT at the end.
 
That's pretty amazing Reg. People down here very seldom go to that extent. Down here almost all Fir-pruning is done with spurs, and there are three main methods: 1) Spur up with pole saw, taught-line hitch and then rake out all the limbs as evenly as you can. (This is what all old-timers do, and they get some pretty amazing looking trees.) 2) Spur up with hand-saw (this is what Evergreen Tree Care Inc.--probably THE largest "tree-care" company in our area does every time) and completely and ridiculously lion-tail all of the limbs. 3) Spur up and alternately remove entire limbs. Fwiw this is what Buckin Billy Ray calls, "Spiral Pruning."

Unbelievably, ALL of these methods (just from what I've seen, and imHo --capital H--) actually do seem to provide effective minimization of wind-resistance, and retention of root-systems in big wind, but; I've just gotta say man... It was really, REALLY refreshing to see one being pruned that well.

Thanks a ton for the vid. :thumbup:
 
Looks natch.

Great vid, for sure. Really dug seeing that climbing which demanded a lot of skill and experience.
 
"Rake out the limbs"... you mean use the pole saw from near the trunk to reach out and saw off the limb tips? That sounds like a monstrous pain in the ass.

Interesting that all 3 methods seem to work well for storm proofing
 
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Jed, Douglas firs over 30cm dbh are protected in saanich. You can only alter them so much without a permit. So, spurs are out if the question really. Although, some ISA cert arb's still spur trees in the area on the quiet because they are too lazy or lack the skills to manage without....not to mention climb out to the end of the branches. But to their credit, they are well practiced at selling deliberate damage when they're short of other options.

I recommend this kind of pruning to reduce the risk of limb failure....but not so much if theres a concern that the tree may up root in its entirety. For that I'd suggest something quite different. Thanks
 
Nice vid, Reg. Pretty amazing how a tree can still be made to look nice when never viewing from the ground when selecting cuts. I think of it as luck, I guess unless you are Stephen, and Reg too. I wanted to train Hank to help me with that, but then the bugger flew off.
 
cory said:
"Rake out the limbs"... you mean use the pole saw from near the trunk to reach out and saw off the limb tips? That sounds like a monstrous pain in the ass.

Interesting that all 3 methods seem to work well for storm proofing
Click to expand...

No Cory, by "rake-out," I mean just that. In the Puget Sound area, Doug Firs grow (ask Reg) so prolifically heavy with foliage, that the saw-blade can literally be used to rake "all the fuzzies," (technical term) out; and what you get is garbage can after (we run Brute) garbage can of fuzzies for a clean up. If we're doing this over gravel we won't even chip this stuff, especially if it's raining.

Yeah, it is interesting. As absolutley hideous as lion-tailing looks, (I absolutely HATE it. It looks like you're fabricating the Fir into some kind of mediteranian tree or something.) it's as if absolutely any technique that promotes a better wood to foliage ratio helps to save the tree out a bunch in the wind.
 
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woodworkingboy said:
Nice vid, Reg. Pretty amazing how a tree can still be made to look nice when never viewing from the ground when selecting cuts. I think of it as luck, I guess unless you are Stephen, and Reg too. I wanted to train Hank to help me with that, but then the bugger flew off.
Click to expand...

It's best not to overthink it, doubt yourself....and worse still ask for direction from someone on the ground. Lack of confidence is often what stops climbers producing their best work. Once you get in a pattern it generally falls into place.
 
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Having said that, the guy loves how it looks now....so I'm not arguing :)
 
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