Re: Pruning Acacia podalyriifolia...

Krzysztof Kozminski wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> My A.podalyriifolia is getting more & more assymetrical, with about 75% of
> all branch mass on the south side of the tree.  According the San Marcos
> growers, it responds well to heavy pruning, but just to be certain, I
> would appreciate if anyone could share any positive or negative
> experiences with pruning this acacia.  In particular, since I will
> probably have to prune some branches nearly 2 inches thick, I am wondering
> whether to seal or not to seal the cuts (I'd hate having the black sealant
> on this tree...).

Hi
I've never had to heavily prune a wattle myself, so don't know how hard
"hard" really means. My book just says one should trim the stems after
flowering to encourage better blooming. Possibly it might be wise to
experiment with  removing only one or two of the really thick stems at
first until you have seen the result. The worse that is likely to happen
I would think is a certain amount of dieback. To avoid most of this one
should never leave long stubs, but cut back to within half an inch or so
of the base of each stem (closer than this may remove the internal
protective cells of the collar).

One thing however I can give some definite information about, and that
is the practice of sealing pruning cuts. Experiments done quite a while
ago now (25 years maybe) showed wound healing to be the best where the
cuts were untreated. Any artificial covering applied to such wounds,
however apparently benign, actually slows down the heaing process. As a
professional in the pruning field in those days I discontinued dressing
tree wounds after carefully examining this research and can confirm that
this idea seems to work well. It is also very much cheaper and less time
consuming!!

Moira

-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand, SW Pacific. 12 hours ahead of Greenwich Time
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