Stop using climbing spikes on trees you aren't removing

I was at a job site in Portland last week and saw another crew putting spikes on a mature oak they were just pruning. I get it if you're taking the tree down, but that bark damage stays forever and opens the tree up to decay. Had a customer call me out 6 months ago after a different company did this to their maple and now it's got cankers forming. Why do some guys still think this is ok for pruning work? Anyone else run into this?

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3 Comments

price.ray1mo ago

Got any idea if those guys just didn't know better or straight up didn't care about the long term damage to that oak?

1

cole_flores441mo ago

That oak probably won't ever fully recover from those spike holes.

1

gray_morgan1mo ago

Two dozen spike holes in a mature tree is a death sentence (slow one, but still).

4