Please help - great tree, oversized branch

Maxibon

I have a lovely row of trees (lilly pillies I think), although one of them has a large oversized branch/twin trunk that I'd really like to remove, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Does anyone have any advice please? I'd really like to remove the left branch in the picture without causing harm to the rest of the tree. A few questions I'm not sure of:

- time of year best to trim?
- should I be fertilising before/after branch removal?
- is bitumen paste enough to seal off wound?
- how close to the main trunk can I safely make the cut?
- should the cut be on a diagonal or straight across grain?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I'm quite new to all this.

Cheers

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Brent Ferris

Can't advise you on the species, but removing that large a limb will dramatically and negatively impact the rest of the stem below the cut. If you still want to, undercut the limb first (about 2 feet from the join) and then cut from the top 1/2 inch further out, so the heaviest part will fall away from the tree, and not rip the bark. And then cut closer. Normally the limb is cut on an angle (not flush with the tree) -- someone else can prob draw you a pic for the best way to do this. No paste is required and often retards tree regrowth. Personally, if you are serious about removing so much, just remove the tree. It prob won't survive, and if it does, it will be weak and become hazardous,.

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Eric Frei

Looks like there's been lots of poor cutting going on there prior.

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Victor Lindsay

It's hard to see from a photo, but it looks like it has bark inclusion. If you don't cut it out the wind will, and the wind will not make a nice clean cut, but will rip it off.

Cut it as marked.

Eric Frei

Well, you could through bolt the tree, like to see the wind rip it off then.

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Maxibon

Thanks heaps for your advice Eric and others - I really appreciate it! We've only just inherited a garden where a few of the mature trees have previously been very badly pruned. Such a shame, but we just have to work with what we have. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!