pruning paint - yes, no or maybe

15 years ago

Is there a consensus on the advisability of using pruning paint when thinning trees or large bushes? Does the size of the limb being pruned or the location or season make any difference?

thanks for any feedback.

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Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
15 years ago
As a general rule, pruning paint is not recommended. There are exceptions to the rule, however, and you might need the help of your extension office for some advice.

IF you have any tree species that are known to be susceptible to borers and beetles AND you are pruning at a time of year when these insects are active....pruning paint is advisable.

Oak wilt is a problem in some parts of Texas and anyone doing any pruning of their oaks after March should always apply wound dressing immediately. You'd be safe in the winter.

How many times have I used such a product in the past 20 years? Probably once or twice.
brandon7 TN_zone7
15 years ago
All I would change in rhizo's response is the first sentence. I would say, "As a general rule, it is recommended that you do not use pruning paint." It's just semantics, but I think it's important to emphasize the negatives associated with using such a product.

The other day, I went back and looked through Spruceman's posts about liquid copper fungicide, but I couldn't find one that seemed to cover all his usual points. Has the original post disappeared or am I just imagining that I saw one a year or two back that seemed to cover all aspects of using this product? Spruce, are you up for a repost?
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spruceman
15 years ago
brandon:

Of course!

xwray:

Can you describe exactly what kind of pruning cuts you are making? If you are thinning out a bush, for example, by cutting down the canes to the ground, no pruning paint of copper fungicide is normally needed. There may be some exceptions, but I am not aware of any.

If you are pruning off branches next to the trunk of a tree, then I would recommend the application of liquid copper fungicide to any cuts over about two inches in diameter, depending on the species of tree and how vigorously it is growing. Most pruning cuts, except very large ones, do not become infected with fungal rot diseases. But there is always some risk that some smaller ones may be infected.

The problem with the usual tree wound/pruning paint products is that they generally do not keep the fungal spores out, but they do keep the moisture in, which can help any fungal spores that get past the paint to grow and grow more vigorously to infect the tree.

On another computer I have my standard set of instructions. I will have access to that computer tomorrow or Saturday. Let me know exactly what kind of pruning you are doing, how large the cuts are, and I will edit my instructions to fit your specific situation.

--Spruce
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
hey sprucey ....

searched for this: the application of liquid copper fungicide

and it appears... you never authored a post about such ... i know i have perused it in numerous posts ...

but why dont you find it... put the above in the title... so that the info is easily searchable for the future ...

i dont do anything.. trees heal themselves ... i can understand why wholesalers with millions of trees in stock have to take preventative measures... but i just dont see why homeowners need to worry about such .. unless, as noted.. a quick call to the forestry dept indicates some plague is local to you ...

good luck

ken
spruceman
15 years ago
Yes, Ken, the same idea finally occurred to me. I can be a little slow witted. One can find my instructions, but it isn't really easy--it would require scrolling through some long topics and reading this and that reply to find it. The search tool here is limited.

Anyway, yes, Ken, trees "heal" themselves--sometimes. Liquid copper fungicide can really prevent fungal infections in a number of common situations that otherwise, in time, would destroy the tree. If you were here now I could take you on a tour and show you come cuts I made as much as 20 years ago--huge ones--still free of any infection or softening of the wood of any kind. They will have ample time to "heal," or occlude, long before any fungal infection can enter the tree. The vast majority of the large cuts I made many years ago have long since occluded, and there is no case where any fungus got inside the tree beforehand.

Well, I will keep on talking about this, and in another 20 years or so the use of this stuff, or something else that does the same thing, will be generally accepted, and many, many homeowners--and others--will have their trees saved. But, of course, there are some situations where this liquid copper fungicide can't prevent infections, and it can't eliminate established infections, but there are so many cases where it can work that it is a shame that the basic research hasn't been done to confirm my findings, and the use of it promoted more effectively than I can ever do by myself.

Everytime I see a tree that is being destroyed by fungal infections that easily could have been prevented, I get sick in my heart!

Anyway, Ken, thanks for the suggestion about setting up a topic under an appropriate title, making my ideas more easily accessible (searchable) to those who may be interested.

--Spruce
wisconsitom
15 years ago
.....and now, it's time for wisconsitoms' usual rant, that trees do not "heal" at all, ever, world without end amen. Spruce caught the term, hence his quotation marks, and substitute of the correct term 'occlude", which means to wall off.

I'm done now, for today, anyway;^)

+oM

pruning paint - yes, no or maybe

Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

brandon7 TN_zone7

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