Your Backyard Forest - Identify and Manage Hazardous Tree Defects

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.)