Beverly Hoffman

I like cleanshaven men. No beards that hang down to catch food particles. Or to make a man look tired and worn.

Trees and shrubs sometimes have a tired, overgrown look that easily can be remedied with a technique that we gardeners rarely utilize: a thinning cut, a limbing up of lower branches.

With pruners in hand, most gardeners work to reduce the bulk or size of a tree or shrub. Limbing up does not do that, but is the simple removal of the lower branches that interfere with other plants or ones that hang so low that they drag on the ground. By pruning its lower branches, the tree not only looks more tidy, but the shrub or tree has more oxygen circulating, creating a healthier environment.



Improve the view

When a tree is limbed up, the bark's texture and pattern, as well as its architectural trunk structure, can be viewed more easily.

I recently limbed up some pieris and enjoyed their graceful trunks. I also removed some branches of several Japanese maples with branches so low that the leaves seemed to pool on the soil.

Again, I had new appreciation of the shape of its branching system.

When I visited the Bloedel Reserve recently, I noticed how frequently the gardeners used limbing up and thinning cuts so that the internal structure of the tree - the trunk, bark and branches - could be more easily seen and thus more appreciated.



Cut to the collar

What shrubs and trees benefit from limbing up? Conifers, pieris, Japanese maples, lilacs, butterfly bushes all respond well.

When raising the crown of a tree, don't raise it more than a foot or two at a time and never remove a large number of branches.

Another important part of limbing up is cutting the branch back to the collar, the slight swelling that occurs where the branch meets the trunk. The collar swell is nature's protection and helps the tree close the wound caused by the loss of the branch. Be careful not to cut flush to the trunk.



Cut thrice

If a branch is extremely heavy, it's best to make three cuts:

_ The first should be to cut partially into the underside of the branch about a foot from the trunk, which will prevent the weight of the falling branch from tearing a strip of bark off the tree.

_ A second cut farther out will remove the majority of the limb.

_ And, with the weight of the branch removed, finally cut the stub to the collar without damaging the trunk.

If a tree or shrub is too compact and too heavy looking, the same thinning cut can be used to reveal and enhance the structure of the plant as well as allowing light and air to penetrate its interior.

Sometimes this thinning cut is called lacing, an effect like looking through a lace curtain.



Spare that shrub

Once pruners are in hand, it's easy to start snipping and actually to take out too much.

While pieris, camellias, photinias and rhododendrons can have about one-fourth of their foliage removed, there are other shrubs that can have only one-eighth or so removed, such as lilacs, privets, yews, beautyberries, doublefile viburnums, witch hazels, etc.

A standard is to thin just those branches that are dead, overlap, are unattractive or that touch a wall or other plant.

A temptation is to begin at eye level, but it's best to thin the shrub or tree from bottom up.



Down in the dirt

I usually don my oldest clothes and make certain I have on my longest pair of gloves. I also put on sunglasses as eye protection. I take out a beach towel so I can get under the tree, either on my knees or to lie down and look up.

For my supplies, I take both my Felco pruners and my folding pruning saw.

Work in a spiral fashion, removing branches, and take a step back very often to judge your progress. Keep reminding yourself to under-thin rather than thinning too much, which can stun and hurt the plant.



Monitor results

After modest limbing up or lacing, monitor the health of the plant.

If you notice increased deadwood and water spouts, you might have pruned too much. Mushrooms growing on the ground at the base of a tree or even on the tree itself may be an indication of serious problems in the roots or in the trunk.

The most important thing to remember about a pruning cut is to do no harm. Any cut should enhance the health and beauty of the shrub or tree. The most obvious example of a pruning cut that is harmful is to top a tree.



Lop, don't top

Unfortunately more than half the work done on trees is to top them, which allows decay to enter the tree trunk. Topping causes branches to die back and it stimulates water spouts, which are ugly.

Tree topping does not remedy any problems people think it will.

Proper thinning cuts never will increase maintenance by creating water spouts or deadwood.

Thinning cuts actually solve a problem - improving a tree's appearance so its interior structure can be seen, oxygenating and increasing the air flow and letting in more light.

Limbing up and lacing are two thinning cuts that are effective in maintaining the health and the shapeliness of a plant.

Like a well-groomed gentleman, a tree will appear

well- tended ... and might receive an admiring glance!



Beverly Hoffman can be reached at columnists@sequimgazette.com.