How to hard prune/pollard mesquite?

[davidwyby]

This is common around here and I don’t much care for it, but mesquites are like willows and just get out of hand otherwise. Some friends of mine’s elderly parents have 3 tall skinny ones that are dropping limbs. They want them hard pruned or removed. Removal would be easier but they block the western sun. Often I see them hard pruned and dead. Are there rules of thumb for how much one can take? Google wasn’t much use.

Thanks

 

[SeanKroll]

Pics!

Google maps address link?

 

[davidwyby]

I tried Google maps but Google hasn’t made it there. I drove by after work but didn’t take pics. 3 mesquites, maybe 10”-12” at the base the split up pretty quick and they’re probably pushing 30’. Pretty spindly. They are right on the curb so easy with the lift…but then she texted me tonight that there are two more out back. Oi. So I will go by again…

 

[davidwyby]

Below are some other pics of local butchery I’ve taken and never gotten around to posting.

 

[davidwyby]

After some reading I know the pollarding isn’t the way to go.

 

[gf beranek]

Good looking tree in the wild.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Very few species can take such a punishment and still get going. For the trees, it's like a nuclear war.
I'd choose the third pic (with the white car) any time. Mainly, you have way better chances of success if you stay with small diameter cuts and keep the most of the foliage as you can. That means that you have to intervene early in the "problem", actually before it becomes really a problem. You can see that that matches well with the concern of the shade's loss. But it's a very different style of job (skill, equipment, time, amount and size of the debris...).
Otherwise, it's often a delayed removal, either because the tree can't sprout enougth to survive and she starves to death, or because the fungi invade the cuts and wreck the remaining structure a few years later. Bugs attracted by the weakened tree is a real concern as they enhance the dammages and can even kill ther).

 

[Mellow]

That is NOT pollarding!

 

[davidwyby]

That is NOT pollarding!

I know. I referred to it as local butchery.

 

[SeanKroll]

Butchers are highly skilled professionals

 

[davidwyby]

Butchers are highly skilled professionals

Driving around here seeing tree work makes my eye twitch.


Remember how before the internet, people thought lack of skills and poor decision making was just due to lack of education and access to information? Well, it wasn’t that.

I forgot to mention that the term pollarding always makes me chuckle cuz I have a good friend with that name.

 

[SeanKroll]

This is common around here and I don’t much care for it, but mesquites are like willows and just get out of hand otherwise. Some friends of mine’s elderly parents have 3 tall skinny ones that are dropping limbs. They want them hard pruned or removed. Removal would be easier but they block the western sun. Often I see them hard pruned and dead. Are there rules of thumb for how much one can take? Google wasn’t much use.

Thanks

The question is why were they dropping limbs?

Old and dead?
Splitting off in storms?

Size?

Important objects beneath or just old people with "messy" trees that they have to clean up after? History of damage? Arborphobia?

 

[davidwyby]

The question is why were they dropping limbs?

Old and dead?
Splitting off in storms?

Size?

Important objects beneath or just old people with "messy" trees that they have to clean up after? History of damage? Arborphobia?

Size…when they get too much water they grow faster than they can support. The limbs generally just fold down. Not sick or anything…mesquite is nearly impossible to kill.

They are along the street so potential to damage parked cars. Also, the couple is elderly so cleaning up after them is a chore.

 

[SeanKroll]

I wonder if a light reduction pruning and 'canopy cleaning' would be just the routine maintenance that they need, both to reduce dropping mess.

I wonder also if they have summer limb drop/ sudden limb drop.


Just saw two large oak trunks on the ground when driving past my friends' rental house. We have few oaks, locally, only Geary/ Oregon white oaks as natives. Not sure if they are subject to SLD.

 

[davidwyby]

That’s the plan. I need to go read the pruning part of FGTW. I’ll get some pitchers in a bit when I get off work. Also some of ours here in our parking lot…which also need cleaned out.

 

[SeanKroll]

Less is more.
Dormant season is likely a better time than mid-summer.



Read up a bit on mesquites' diseases and pests.

 

[davidwyby]

Volunteers, less than a year old I think. Two, tops. Already growing too fast and breaking.



One of our parking shade trees fell. Been working on standing the base back up. It’s growing pretty well from a limb.

 

[davidwyby]

Ok, here are the trees that are the subject of the thread.

 

[davidwyby]

Lots of fussing about in the lift with the 2511. Based on what I see breaking, need to lace it out, remove one of each of all the crossed/redundant limbs. Then reduce length by 1/3 to 1/2.


Yeah, not tackling that in the summer…I hate limbing and trimming. Only reason I’m doing it is because the daughters of the couple are our friends, one an employee.

 

[davidwyby]

Maybe start a little slow and then prune them back more next year. Lady wants them real short but that’s asking to kill them, and if that’s the plan I’ll just remove them.

 

[stig]

They look like they've been topped/pollarded before.
Take them back to those cuts and see what happens.

If you do that, cut each new branch that sprouted from the old cuts, back.
Leave the branch collar intact.
Do not go below the old cuts.
You'll most likely need to use a hand saw on most of the smaller ones, or loppers.

 

[SeanKroll]

Crossing branches have been somewhat supporting one by the other, commonly.

Guy Milleur has said (convenient numbers) that 15% reduction Can offer Up to 50% more stability.

Less is more.

 

[Bermy]

I see plenty of targets to prune back to in those trees. Done from a lift, hand saw and small chainsaw, end weight reduction, height reduction and canopy clean.
Tree stays, benefit of shade remains.

 

[davidwyby]

We’ll see how I do. Luckily mesquites are very hardy. :-D

 

[Bermy]

Like elms here, they can take a likkin and keep on tikkin.