The main parts of tree not to cut are the branch collar, the trunk itself, the central leader on a young tree, and the bark ridge above each branch. The branch collar is your number one protected zone. Damage it and you damage your tree for life.
I have seen trees fade and die 5 to 10 years after a single flush cut. The wound never closes. Rot eats deeper each season until the limb above the cut snaps in a storm.
One of my neighbors flush cut six limbs off a mature apple in 2015. By 2022 the whole tree had hollow rot in the trunk. The tree came down in a winter wind.
The branch collar is the raised ring of bark where a branch joins the trunk. Inside this small zone live the cells that form callus tissue. Callus seals the wound shut and locks out germs and decay.
Cut into the collar and you kill those cells. The wound stays open. Water and spores soak into the trunk wood and start rot that you cannot stop.
Cut too far out from the collar and you leave a stub. Stubs cannot heal either. They die back into the trunk and bring rot with them.
Look for the raised ring of bark at the base of each branch. Sometimes it looks like a small donut. Sometimes it looks like a slight bulge. Your cut goes just outside that ring, not flush with the trunk.
Never top a tree by cutting the central leader on a young apple or pear. Tree pruning mistakes like topping force water sprouts from below the cut. The new shoots grow weak and break in wind.
Topping also leaves a huge wound that no tree can seal. The exposed wood rots from the top down. Most topped trees die within 10 to 15 years.
Never remove the bark ridge above each branch either. That dark vertical line of bark holds the connecting tissue between branch and trunk. Cut through it and you split the trunk wood below.
Avoid all cuts on the main trunk itself. Trunk damage pruning wounds heal slow because the trunk has no collar to do the work. A single deep gash can let in fungus that hollows out the heart wood.
Skip cuts on roots showing above the soil too. These surface roots help anchor the tree and feed it water. Cut them and you weaken the whole root system below ground.
Always leave the water sprouts at the base of the trunk alone in winter. Cut them in June or July instead when the tree heals fast and the cuts close in days. Winter cuts on sprouts bleed sap for weeks.
Look for these protected parts before you make any cut. Trace each branch back to where it meets the trunk. Find the collar ring and the bark ridge. Plan your cut just outside both.
Take a photo of the tree before you start work. This simple step gives you a record of every cut you made and where. You learn faster from photos than from memory alone.
Read the full article: Pruning Fruit Trees: 8 Expert Steps
