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Young Trees Need Training By Margaret Jevic Take a look outside your window (yes, this is also how I started last month’s article. We are going to be doing a lot of looking around, OK?) Find the nearest tree and take a good look at it. Now that all the leaves have left us for the season, you can really see the structure of our trees. The branching pattern can tell you a lot about the tree if you only know how to listen. Wendi Van Buren, our regional urban forester, told me that and I think it’s beautiful. Trees grow in many different ways. Some are very upright with one strong central trunk, called a leader, and many smaller limbs protruding at 90 degree angles, while others seem to branch out with big limbs in every direction. There are two important terms to describe these patterns of growth - excurrent and decurrent. Excurrent trees have a straight central leader (think pine trees) and decurrent trees have multiple large limbs branching out and up (maples and oaks).
of lower tree branches. In a natural forest, most lower branches of trees are shed by the tree because they don’t receive enough light to be beneficial to the tree in terms of photosynthesis and food production. The Mariemont Tree Advisory Board (TAB) recently had a few recruits attend a formal tree pruning seminar and hands-on training provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), with the goal of ultimately setting up a volunteer pruning committee. The idea is to do young tree training, which is scheduled, targeted
pruning every 2-3 years from the time of planting to 15 years down the line. This type of pruning only applies to young, newly planted trees and literally trains a tree to grow a certain way that is desirable for strength, longevity, health, and aesthetics. Alan Siewert, a former regional urban forester with ODNR, likens young tree training to a facelift - meaning that the process may look a bit rough and one may wonder why one is going through Cont'd on page 4
When a tree does not establish a central leader, limbs compete for dominance and the tree never achieves a single line from top to bottom. This excessive branching out can cause limbs to be large, heavy, and prone to breakage, as well as prevent the tree from reaching its full height or lifespan. This is where pruning comes into play. People prune trees for a few reasons aesthetics, clearance for cars, pedestrians, and power lines, and to increase strength and longevity of the tree. Proper pruning also saves money in the long run because when tree branches are more robust, they are less likely to fall and cause expensive damage or cleanup. The tree will also likely live a much longer life, saving removal/replanting costs. Pruning is done by certified arborists and people with specific pruning training in a way that mimics cladoptosis, or the natural shedding
Members of the Oct. 28. 2021 Tree Pruning Class provided by the Mariemont Tree Committee