Pruning Catalpa Trees

[MowerMoney]

Does anyone here know when and how to prune Catalpa trees? My customer has what I believe to be a Northern Catalpa that is getting too big for his garden. Should it be pruned in the spring or in the fall? Are these the kinds of trees that can be pruned right back to the trunk? Maybe leaving just a few short stubs off the trunk?
Thanks for the help if anyone can advise.

[marko]

Here is a good link on identification: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/forestry/Education/ohiotrees/catalpa.htm

This one showes an almost flush cut: http://www.midwestlandscapeplants.org/plantdetails.cfm?speciesid=498

[imograss]

Those are fish bait producing factories, be careful.

[sheshovel]

You never want to remove that much of a tree at once ever.just head it back to a managable size evenly around the tree,remove any dead branches or ones that rubb on each other and ones that compromise the look or health of the tree.Look at treesaregood.com

[gil]

be careful with catalpa trees, they are very weak.

[CRUZMISL]

I cut mine back to the trunk every spring or fall however I have done this since they were tiny. Depending on how large the canopy is it may not be the best approach...

[MowerMoney]

Those are fish bait producing factories, be careful.

Huh? :dizzy:

[MowerMoney]

Look at treesaregood.com

Site wouldn't open to anything.

[nocutting]

Does anyone here know when and how to prune Catalpa trees? My customer has what I believe to be a Northern Catalpa that is getting too big for his garden. Should it be pruned in the spring or in the fall? Are these the kinds of trees that can be pruned right back to the trunk? Maybe leaving just a few short stubs off the trunk?
Thanks for the help if anyone can advise.
Hi, Catalpas are one of the few types of trees that "Pollarding", was intended for....all the secondary branching is removed, and the primarys are left to produce sucker growth.....when you see this done to other Maples, Oaks or Beech trees [ all "Hardwood Trees"] , thats when its time to call the "Tree Police", as a Great Injustice has been purpetrated. :) :waving: :cool2:

[TC120]

Pollarding is still a bad practice, whatever country you do it in. If and I state if a tree's canopy has to be reduced, natural crown reduction is the professional practice, by pruning to a lateral branch. Also, no more than 1/3 of a trees canopy should ever be removed at any one time. Not to be a smartallic but suckers grow on roots and the base of trees. Water sprouts/shoots are the result of crown pruning. The shoots are the direct result of the tree fighting off starvation from too much foliage being cut.

[out4now]

Site wouldn't open to anything.

I just looked at it, worked for me http://www.treesaregood.com/ Good site by the way sheshovel.

[nocutting]

Pollarding is still a bad practice, whatever country you do it in. If and I state if a tree's canopy has to be reduced, natural crown reduction is the professional practice, by pruning to a lateral branch. Also, no more than 1/3 of a trees canopy should ever be removed at any one time. Not to be a smartallic but suckers grow on roots and the base of trees. Water sprouts/shoots are the result of crown pruning. The shoots are the direct result of the tree fighting off starvation from too much foliage being cut.
Hey "TC", the pruneing you discrib is coirrect, but you can go to almost any "Botanical Gardens" to view "Pollarding", just as you can view "Espaliar", or "Topiary styles " as well?.......just alittle to ridgid, I'm thinking?.......think, I wouda told him about "Sun scald", than to nit-pic about "Suckers"? :cool2:

[TC120]

Good point you made about sun scald! I know many botanicals and such do pollard a tree. What I refer to is a professional pruning of a customers trees. People often mistake all those sprouts from heading, topping, pollarding, etc. as wow the tree is really taking off now as a good thing. We could spend hours on how wrong that thinking is. Don't we owe it to the customer (those who pay for a professional service) to offer sound pruning practices, regardless of what a zoo or garden display does?