Tips to Prevent a Tree Limb from Growing Back After Lopping
It's important that you ask a professional tree services company to prune and lop any large trees that you have growing on your land every year to keep them healthy and free from disease. You can tackle smaller specimens yourself if you want to. But how do you prevent the branches from subsequently growing back?
Here's how to keep your trees looking neat and tidy by preventing the regrowth of pruned branches.
What You Will Need
- household bleach
- water
- paper towel
- tape measure
- permanent marker pen
- hand saw
- black latex paint
- paint brush
How to Do It
Before you begin, make up a mild solution of household bleach and warm water. Wash all your pruning tools thoroughly in the solution and dry them using paper towel. Disinfecting your tools in this way will help to prevent the spread of diseases between trees that could otherwise be spread by pruning.
First of all, take a permanent marker pen and make a vertical mark on the bottom of the tree limb that you are going to prune, about half a metre out from the trunk.
Now measure a further couple of centimetres outwards from the vertical mark and make a second mark with your permanent marker pen.
Next, make a third mark right in front of the branch collar. The branch collar is the pronounced swelling that circles the tree limb where it joins the tree trunk or a larger branch.
Now take a handsaw and cut halfway through the limb, from the bottom upwards, through the first mark that you made.
Next, hold the saw at an angle and make a horizontal cut towards the second mark until the cut is even with it.
Cut right through the second mark, working from the top to the bottom of the limb. This should remove most of the branch.
Finish off by sawing right through the third cut, working from the top to the bottom to remove the remainder of the branch. It's important that you make this a straight cut, not an angled one.
Complete the job by using a clean paint brush to apply a thin coat of black latex paint over the freshly cut area of the branch. The paint will block out sunlight that might encourage new growth to sprout.
The series of cuts that you made to sever the branch will effectively discourage regrowth. For more advice on tree lopping or maintaining your trees, have a chat with a good tree services company.