MAKING AN APPLICATION TO PRUNE TREES SUBJECT TO A TREE

PRESERVATION ORDER, OR GIVING NOTICE TO PRUNE TREES WITHIN A

DESIGNATED CONSERVATION AREA.

PRUNING GUIDANCE
When to prune:
Generally speaking, trees can be pruned at any time of year. The time of pruning has to be
evaluated for several reasons:
Biological reasons:
It is recommended to prune during summer when the trees are actively growing and can
react immediately. Pruning should be avoided when the trees are coming into leaf or at leaf
fall when energy storage is moved into the tree. Prunus species (Cherries and related
species) should be pruned after flowering to reduce the risk of bacterial infection.
Aesthetic reasons:
Acer (sycamores and maples) Betula (Birch), and Juglans (Walnut), should be pruned before
or after leaf fall to prevent sap bleeding. Although this bleeding is not considered harmful to
the tree, it can be unsightly.
Practical reasons:
Tree maintenance is often carried out in winter, as structural and wood defects are more
visible when the tree is not in leaf. However, crown maintenance can generally be performed
at any time, but summer time is preferable.
Pruning intervals:
For optimum development and safety, trees should be inspected and if necessary pruned on a
regular basis. For instance, this routine is of particular important in the case of street trees or
trees in private gardens that abut the street.

In order help the councils tree & landscape officer to assess your proposals, the
following arboricultural terms will help you to accurately describe the work that you
intend to carry out.

PRUNING TECHNIQUES

Formative pruning:
The purpose of formative pruning is to help the young tree to develop into a strong and wellshaped specimen. The structure of the tree can be improved by appropriate branch removal
when the tree is young to ensure a good balanced branch structure as the tree matures. The
aim should be to obtain a well balanced evenly distributed branch structure. Weakly attached,
crossing, rubbing, dead or damaged branches should therefore, be removed at an early stage in
the trees development during formative pruning. At this stage in a trees development, in
order to prevent structural weaknesses as the tree matures, in cases where young trees has
developed two leaders, it may be appropriate to remove the weaker of the two.
Crown cleaning:
The purpose of crown cleaning is to keep the tree in a safe and healthy condition. Crown
cleaning is the removal of dead, diseased, broken, crossing, crowded, weakly attached, and
sometimes low vigour branches. Foreign objects should also be removed.

Crown thinning:
Crown thinning is the removal of a small portion of
secondary live branches throughout the crown. Often
5% or 10% is sufficient. Thinning should not exceed
15%. It should be aimed at producing a uniform
density of foliage around an evenly spaced branch
structure. It is usually confined to broad-leafed
species. Crown thinning includes crown cleaning
and does not influence the size or shape of the tree.
Crown thinning may be used to allow additional
light to pass through the tree, reduce wind
resistance, or to reduce the weight of heavy
branches.
In some species however, over-thinning will
stimulate unwanted formation of sprouts

Crown reduction/balancing:
Crown reduction is used to reduce the crown of a tree,
or the tree itself, whilst maintaining its natural shape
and balance as far as practicable. The ends of the
branches are removed back to internal lateral
branches. Topping is rarely appropriate as it not only
disfigures most species, but also can have a
detrimental affect on the trees health and is therefore
not encouraged. No more that one third of the total
foliage should be removed in the case of broadleaved
trees.
Topping as part of crown reduction may only be
approved when it forms part of crown reduction
works to certain evergreen trees e.g. Taxus species
(Yew) where a more formal shape is desirable and the
species can be expected to regenerate favourably.

Partial crown reduction:

The reduction of parts of a tree crown may be carried where buildings or other structures are
in conflict with expanding crowns or where new buildings have to be constructed close to a
tree. This method may sometimes be employed where trees near boundaries cause nuisance to
neighbours. The recommendations for Crown reduction above should be followed.

Crown lifting:
Crown lifting involves the removal of the entire lower
branches and the reduction of parts of higher branches
that extend below the desires height. The extent of
this type of pruning is expressed as a distance
clearance from ground level to the desired height at
which the main crown starts.

Crown restoration:
Crown restoration can be used on valuable old trees that have lost their natural form and
structure through storm damage, topping, dieback, or disease. Crown restoration can be
carried out on many species; however, some species such as Fagus(beech) are unable to
recover.
The purpose of this type of pruning is to develop a new crown on stable healthy main
branches. Damaged or dead branches are cut back to healthy wood.
Crown restoration on old trees can be done in stages with intervals of several years. This gives
the trees defence system the optimal possibility for being activated behind final cuts.
Old trees should be inspected regularly. If trees have been severely damaged or cut back
sprouts may develop close to the reduction point. On old wood sprout often have poor
attachment and therefore should generally be reduced to just above their starting point in
intervals of 3 10 years. However, if a tree in good condition is vandalised, sprouts with
strong attachments can be selected to form a new crown.

N.B. - Ryedale District Council strongly advise that you employ a competent, fully insured,
contractor as tree surgery can be potentially hazardous when not carried out by qualified
persons.