If young trees are “trained” or pruned to promote good structure, they will likely remain servicable in the landscape for more years than trees that have not been so pruned, especially if the training is started early on. Defects can be removed, a single, or dominant leader can be selected, and branches can be well spaced along the main trunk.
The Benicia Tree Foundation planted alot of five-gallon Coast live oak trees at Benicia High in 2011. The first time these trees were pruned was 2014. Most were pruned again in 2017. The six oak trees that our training experts did not get to last year were pruned yesterday, before it got too hot.
