Mike O wrote:
I have a large, mature oak tree, about 40 feet tall, the trunk is about
3 feet thick at the base. The tree appears healthy, but there are a
number (about 10) dead branches near the bottom of the tree. The
largest of these branches is about 2 inches where it exits the trunk,
although most are around 1 inch. They have no leaves on them at all
and they smaller shoots break easily. Also, most also have very blunt
cut ends where it looks like they were pruned years ago (by the previous
homeowner). By far, most of the tree is fine, with very full, green
leaves.

I'd like to remove these dead branches, but I'm not sure when is the
best time of the year to do this. I've done some searching, and found
information regarding pruning live branches, but not much about the dead
ones. Some of the articles I've found state to trim only during
winter, but that would be much harder to identify the dead branches.
Other articles say mid to late summer (starting late June) is OK.

The dead branches are all fairly low (reachable from the ground with a
pole saw), and finances are somewhat tight right now, so bringing in a
professional isn't really an option.

Any information would be appreciated.

Mike O.


That fact is that a truly dead branch will eventually self-prune as soon
as microorganisms and fungus and insects do their work and a wind comes
up. You can hasten the process by cutting the dead branches right now.
The key is to avoid causing more damage in the process. Things like
leaving the collar intact and avoiding bark tears are important whether
the branches are live or dead.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com