2007-05-17 10:03:41 · 7 answers · asked by pmakdaddy 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
Best time to prune red oak is on the coldest day of the year. In Chicago that would be in Feb. because fungus/diseases and insects are not active. Now, Red Oak is very susceptible to Oak wilt. Oak wilt is a bacteria carried in the saliva of a beetle that feeds on the sap of Red Oak. If your area has Oak wilt & you prune in May, June or July (when this bug is active), then you run the risk of Oak wilt. Oak wilt will kill a Red Oak in one season. Like Dutch Elm disease, Oak wilt can be spread from one red Oak to the next if they are close enough to have root grafted (very common in Red Oaks as in Elms). Oak wilt will take out an entire stand of Red Oaks that are all root grafted together. So extreme care must be exercised when pruning Red Oak and you have Oak wilt in your area. You can prune again in fall when red oak is going dormant (leaves are changing color or dropping). So prune any time from October thru April if in the Northern hemisphere, you have Oak wilt in your area & you have cold winters.
2007-05-17 11:35:23 · answer #1 · answered by A Well Lit Garden 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Best time, early spring. But you can trim it some anytime of the year, if you don't remove a lot of the leaf bearing limbs. Unless you are on the left coast, don't worry about oak wilt. Don't paint the wounds with anything, research has shown trees heal over faster without it.
2007-05-17 12:28:51 · answer #2 · answered by jimdc49 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The best time to trim any tree is when the sap is down (winter)
Or before it comes up (very early spring) before they bud out.
2007-05-17 10:48:02 · answer #3 · answered by LucySD 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
in the winter is best, if you must trim it now go to local hardware store, they will have something you can "paint" over the place you cut . this helps keep bugs out and helps heal faster. just wish i could remember the name sorry.
2007-05-17 10:07:23 · answer #4 · answered by gands4ever 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sounds interesting
2016-07-29 04:22:11 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
anytime as long as your saw or pruners are sharp, make your cut from the trunk just next to the collar, and dont put nothing on it , it will heal just fine, now apple and fruit trees, need to be prunned in feb or early march, any other trees you can prune anytime
2007-05-17 11:19:43 · answer #6 · answered by Bighorn 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Thankyou for all the answers
2016-08-24 02:41:10 · answer #7 · answered by ferne 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋