When pruning a tree, will it hurt it if you break off the small branches?

Question

I had my maple tree trimmed today by a company that I have trusted in the past. They have been around at least 15 years but I haven't needed to use them for awhile. Anyway, I noticed that the men were just breaking off the smaller branches that were close them. These weren't just dead branches but live ones too. They were probably less than an inch around. At first I thought they would probably come along and trim back the whole limb where they did this but that was not always the case. Should I be concerned? When I look at the tree the majority of the cuts were made with a saw but a few were broken. and are therefore jagged.

Answer 1

Needless to say, you received a "shabby" pruning job! I would call the boss man and complain about the way the tree was pruned by his workers. "You" are not the one who should have to clean up a shoddy job that you expected to have done professionally. The company needs to come back and do it right. And when I refer to doing it right, I mean that the branches should be cut flush to the main branch or to the trunk, which ever they are pruning. By leaving the edges jagged and not cleanly cut, you are leaving an opening for disease and insects to enter the terribly pruned branches. Secondly, the cut will not "heal" over like it should. A clean cut, that is flush, will heal over entirely in a matter of 2 or 3 growing seasons depending on the health of the tree. Thirdly, a "stump" of a branch left protruding from a cut, will not heal over at all...I would be on the phone first thing in the morning if it was me... Hope this answers your question.

... Billy Ray

Answer 2

Ditto to what Billy Ray said.

You should be concerned. What the workers did was LAZY, and not good for the health of the tree.

Emphasize the fact that you have been a loyal customer for 15+ years, the reason you continue to use this company is because of quality service and you will not accept shoddy work.

Answer 3

I don't think it will harm the tree, but sometimes new growth will sprout from the cut ends. This will not happen where they broke the branches, which isn't good.

Definitely have the tree service come back to finish the job. You hired them to prune (cut) your tree, not mutilate it.

Answer 4

Go out tomorrow and cut the limbs clean. Leave about 3 inches of the old limb if possible. What they did is O.K., what you can do will be much better.