Watching my neighbor cut a Bradford pear flush to the trunk made me cringe

He was trying to help it after a storm, but that cut is a huge problem. It leaves a big wound that can't heal right, letting in rot and bugs. I showed him how to find the branch collar and cut just outside it, like we learned in the ISA workshop in Charlotte last fall. How do you guys handle explaining proper cuts to clients without sounding like you're talking down to them?

3 comments

3 Comments

karencampbell15d ago

Ugh, that's so rough to watch. I always start by saying trees heal differently than we do, and show them the branch collar on a nearby tree. It turns it into a quick visual lesson instead of a lecture. Makes it about helping the tree, not about their mistake. What did your neighbor say after you showed him?

logan_mitchell15d ago

Flush cuts are the landscaping version of a crime scene.

-1

hayden_craig9515d ago

Man, you're not wrong. It's brutal to see a tree butchered like that. In my experience, those cuts just never heal right and leave the whole thing open to rot and disease. It's one of those things that seems neat and tidy to someone who doesn't know, but it does so much harm. I always feel bad for the tree.