There are two types of tree pruning: Crown Maintenance and Crown modification. Specific types of pruning may be necessary to maintain a mature tree in a healthy, safe, and attractive condition.
- Crown Maintenance includes Deadwooding, Crown Thinning, Selective Pruning, Formative Pruning, Cleaning
- Crown Modification includes Reduction Pruning, Crown Lifting, Pollarding, Remedial (corrective) Pruning and Line Clearance.
Cleaning is the removal of dead, dying, diseased, crowded, weakly attached, and low-vigor branches from the crown of a tree.
Thinning is the selective removal of branches to increase light penetration and air movement through the crown. Thinning opens the foliage of a tree, reduces weight on heavy limbs, and helps retain the tree’s natural shape.
Raising removes the lower branches from a tree in order to provide clearance for buildings, vehicles, pedestrians, and vistas.
Reduction reduces the size of a tree, often for clearance of utility lines. Reducing the height or spread of a tree is best accomplished by pruning back the leaders and branch terminals to lateral branches that are large enough to assume the terminal
