A client down in Austin taught me I was pruning oaks all wrong

Had a guy show me a video of himself pruning a live oak in June and I told him he was gonna kill it. He came back with a link to a Texas A&M study about how freezing temps actually push rot deeper into cuts. Now I only make final cuts between July and September down here in zone 8b. Anyone else ever get called out like that and have to totally rework their seasonal schedule?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_nelson28d ago

Thought I knew the golden rule from my grandfather - never touch oaks after March. Then a buddy from the arborist guild set me straight with similar research and I felt like a total fool for all those years I spent waiting until winter.

maxmurphy28d ago

Tbh @kim_nelson that's exactly how I felt when I found out the same thing. My old man swore by March being the cutoff too, but turns out it's way more about the specific tree and local climate than some hard date. Makes you wonder how many other "rules" we've been following that are just old wives' tales.