Veteran-owned | Marion County and Ocala

What is restoration pruning?

Restoration pruning is how a damaged shade tree gets a safer crown back, one stage at a time. Topping is not part of that work.

Request this work (352) 740-6624
A Florida oak with dense sprouts growing from old topping cuts

Key takeaways

  • Restoration pruning is for a tree that was topped, lion-tailed, or broken in a storm, when the trunk is still worth keeping.
  • The first visit does not try to rebuild the whole crown.
  • Tree topping is not our pruning philosophy. We only consider it as a last resort instead of removing a hazardous tree.
  • If the trunk is hollow or the lean is getting worse, restoration is the wrong job.

A lot of oaks around Ocala were headed back years ago because someone wanted them shorter. They grew a fist of sprouts on each stub. Those sprouts are weakly attached. Restoration pruning picks the ones that can become real limbs and takes the weight off the rest.

Who this job is for

A fit

  • A shade tree with old topping cuts and a sound trunk.
  • A storm left large stubs and a lopsided crown.
  • You want the tree, and you can wait more than one season.

A different service

Before the crew arrives

Photos of the whole treeWhen it was last cutWhat the storm brokeWhat sits under the crown

What happens, in order

  1. 01

    Look

    We read the trunk, the old cuts, and the sprouts coming off the stubs.

  2. 02

    Decide

    You hear keep-and-stage, or remove, before saws work the crown.

  3. 03

    Do

    The first cuts take dead wood and the heaviest weak sprouts. The tree is not stripped.

  4. 04

    Leave

    You get what this visit did and when the next stage should happen. Debris from this visit is chipped or hauled as agreed.

If the work takes more than one visit

Visit 1

Weight and dead wood. Done means the worst levers are gone.

Later visit

Choose the sprouts that will be leaders. Done means the crown has a direction.

After that

Light structure cuts. Done means the tree can go back to ordinary pruning.

The full sequence is in a multi-year plan. Badly topped trees are covered in topped and lion-tailed trees.

Ask for a look before another cut

Send photos of the whole tree. We will say whether it can be restored or whether removal is the honest choice.

Request this work (352) 740-6624