Crop Tree Pruning

Definition

Removal of live or dead branches from crop trees to produce valuable knot-free trees.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible species: Sugar maple, yellow birch, red oak, white ash, red spruce, white spruce, black spruce, eastern hemlock, white pine, red pine, eastern larch. Red maple and largetooth aspen with pre-approval. Non-native: Norway spruce and Japanese larch.

Crop Tree Requirements:

• Softwood: Dominant/co-dominant, straight, minimum 50% live crown
• Hardwood: Dominant/co-dominant/intermediate, straight, minimum 30% live crown, no epicormic branching

Stand must have health and vigour to grow for minimum 20 years.

Guidelines and Assessment Procedures

• Use handsaw/pruning saw; pruning shear for branches <1 cm
• Initial pruning to 2.5 m height, maximum 50% of crop trees
• If pruning before thinning, don’t prune future extraction trails
• Prune only when trees are dormant
• Make cuts outside branch collar, maximum 1 cm stub
• Minimize damage; damage = bark damage exposing >1 cm² sapwood
• Maximum 5% damaged stems allowed