May Tree Reduction – June 6, 2023

Sometimes you get a chance to do some very satisfying pruning, and this was one of those jobs! We were asked to prune back and reshape a beautiful, vigorous May tree (Prunus virginiana), the main feature of a lovely shaded front yard. The tree was in excellent health but it had started to grow too large and a bit ungainly, so Allan was called in to reshape it and bring it back to a manageable size. He aimed for at least a 30% crown reduction, a round shape, and a bit more clearance underneath the tree.

Crown reduction is the preferred method for reducing the size of a deciduous tree such as the May tree. Instead of just lopping off the ends of branches, which can cause unwanted lateral growth, codominant stems, or bare sticks towards the trunk, a crown reduction aims to promote future growth in a desirable way, working with the natural shape of the tree while encouraging it to fit the space it’s growing in. Efforts are made to make sure the tree is balanced immediately following the reduction and in the future.

The May tree was taking over the entire side lawn and brushing up against the house. It had also grown into the branches of a pine tree towards the neighbour’s fence and it was choking it out because of the lack of light. It was time to do some pruning!

Allan started out by removing some of the larger branches that had lots of ends sticking out of the top, contributing to the lopsided appearance of the tree. He climbed between the stems, using a chainsaw to start bringing his vision of a more contained tree to reality.

After the larger branches had been dealt with, he used a pole pruner to remove smaller branches to further refine the shape of the tree, moving around the outside and carefully considering each removal. Finally, the reduction was done, and you’d hardly recognize the tree! Where it was uncontrolled and sprawling before, it was now rounded and contained, with the remaining branches well-distributed through the crown and lots of room for airflow and new growth. Even the client said it looked like something out of a picture book!