1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Forestry

Your Backyard Forest - Identify and Manage Hazardous Tree Defects

By , About.com Guide

7 of 9

Practicing proper tree pruning is excellent “preventive medicine”!

Tree Pruning Illustration

USFS
A defective branch or branches may cause a high-risk situation, even though the rest of the tree is sound. In this case, pruning the branch or branches solves the problem.
Practicing proper tree pruning is excellent “preventive medicine” for reducing the occurrence of defective, high-risk trees. By pruning properly, early in a tree’s life, you can prevent or correct many of the problems that cause trees to fail as they mature.
Improper pruning techniques can worsen the problem, and may ultimately result in the formation of cracks, decay, cankers, or poor tree architecture that lead to very high risk situations. (See How to Prune Your Young Trees for more information.)

Explore Forestry

About.com Special Features

A Smarter Future

Tips that will help finance your education, excel in the classroom, and advance your career. More >

How to Ace the GRE

Being well prepared is the first step; here are more essential suggestions. More >

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Forestry
  4. Caring for Your Tree
  5. Forest Owner Help
  6. Prune your tree

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.