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.)
