Old Water Oak Pruning Question

1,025 Views | 4 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by RogerStout
Bonfire97
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AG
I had a 70 year old water oak pruned of a couple of dead limbs a month ago. I noticed that they pruned one of them off close to the trunk, but the open face of the cut is facing upward. It was cut straight across as the limb was growing straight up. Isn't this going to leave a surface to catch rainwater and cause rot issues in the trunk? I would have thought it would have been better to make the cut vertical to the ground even if that meant a slight crosscut with a wider cut surface. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
agnerd
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AG
Shouldn't be a problem. Only dead stuff rots. trimmed limb will be like the rest of the tree. They have water flowing through them all the time anyway, so a little water on the surface won't hurt it.. Only way it would be a problem is if it starts to rot, the cut develops a bowl, and it starts to hold water. If that happens, there's something bigger wrong with the tree. Even then, you can drill a drain hole out the side to solve that problem. I'd leave it alone if it was my tree.
Bonfire97
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AG
Thanks for the response. Yeah, I will probably just leave it. It's too high for me to get too (safely) anyway.....
HDeathstar
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FYI: Water oaks of that age start having issues. 50 years is a good run for a water oak. We have a bunch planted in our neighborhood (50 years) and people keep trimming off the dying branches. Now they all have big trunked trees with two or three branches at the very top (like a palm tree). Pretty sad. Every major thunderstorm, someone loses a big branch.
Kenneth_2003
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AG
This... They're popular because they are relatively fast growing and can produce dense shade early in life. Far sooner than say a live oak. However, yes their life expectancy is fairly short when compared to other trees.
RogerStout
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Water Oaks are a mess. I've got 7 of them and would love to cut them down, but they're my only shade.
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