Crown Thinning in Gloucestershire

Crown thinning is an advanced pruning operation normally carried out on hardwood trees by our panel of  professional tree surgeons in Gloucestershire. It involves removing dead and dying branches, branches which are rubbing together and general weaken the structure of the tree. Our members also offer a crown reduction and a crown lifting service. Crown treatment is essential in fruit tree pruning.

The benefits of crown thinning are:

To improve the trees structure and form
To keep the tree healthy and free of problems
To keep fruit trees productive and flourishing
To allow more light to penetrate through the canopy
To keep the tree free from fungal infection and disease
To reduce the effect of high winds on the tree
To prevent potential storm damage

More Information On Crown Thinning

Our experienced panel of Gloucestershire tree surgeons will will ensure that the weaker branches of the tree are removed during crown thinning. We look for for tree branches which form acute V-shaped connections to the trunk of the tree and other branches. Such V-shaped connections form a bark wedge. These bark wedges will weaken the connection presenting a serious hazard to public safety during storms and high winds. The removal of a V shaped branch connection will cause the remaining branch to grow stronger. Branches and multiple tree trunks on the same tree which form a U shaped connection are generally considered to strong and should not be thinned.

When crown thinning our panel of tree surgeons in Gloucestershire ensure that any branches growing off another are less than 75% of the diameter of the root branch at the point of attachment. When crown thinning our members ensure that they do not leave a collection of smaller branches, shoots and leaves at the very end of the branch ( known as lion tails). Lions tails will lead to epicormic sprouting and will eventually lead to uneven weight distribution in the branch, causing it to break off.

As a general rule, when crown thinning in Gloucestershire  members of the Gloucestershire Tree Surgery Network never remove more than 25%-30% of the living crown. If more needs to be removed this should be done in successive years to ensure the health of the tree.