Pin Oak

[red1]

Hi all..long time!

Question for the arborists here..I've a mature pin oak, probably 18 inches in diameter..It has branches that like to hang down and smack me upside the head when I mow around it..

Trimmed branches in the past and that seems to end up killing the whole branch..back to the trunk..

Tree is around 60 -70 feet tall and healthy..had to do a lot of watering on all the trees the last 3 summers..drought in Kansas..

But anyway, because of this trimming there are no branches probably 12 feet from the ground..and I know if I trim the ones hanging down now they will die back to the trunk..So how far up the trunk can I continue to trim without harming the tree? The canopy is extremely healthy,lots of leaves..

thank you
Red1

[Old Vet]

The proper way to trim a tree is to cut it close to the trunk. There is a bowl that protects the tree from disease. If you cut it anywhere else you invite disease and rot.

[Paquebot]

You can trim up to where there is a major crotch or "y". 60-70 foot oak could have 30-40 feet of bare trunk in a forest.

Martin

[Badger]

Pin oak by nature wants to shade the trunk with its lower limbs - The more you remove the low limbs the more higher limbs will droop down to shade the trunk. Pin oak should not have the lower limbs removed. I never recommend Pin oak for a yard tree for this very reason.

[Paquebot]

You can get an idea of how you want to shape the bottom from an assortment of pictures.

pin oak trees - Bing Images

Martin