storia uccelliStoria Naturale degli Uccelli Trattata con Mmetodo e Adornata di Figure Intagliate in Rame e Miniate al Naturale. Ornithologia methodice digesta atque iconibus aeneis ad vivum illuminatis ornate
Saviero Manetti (1723-1784) (editor)

When To Prune Trees: NOT NOW

The idea that we can keep pruning, if we’re careful, is wishful thinking.
When arborists or tree trimmers tell you it’s OK to prune in April, May or June because they will keep an eye out for nests, the blunt translation is: “Forget the birds.”
Although rules exist that require tree workers to stop cutting when active nests are discovered, a nest revealed is a nest imperiled.

In short, only one valid excuse exists for spring or early summer pruning: a danger in which a potentially falling tree threatens life or property.

California has a long nesting season.
Hummingbirds have been broody since January and will remain so for some time.
Think of them when you tell your gardener to leave the hedges, camellias and hibiscuses alone.
Bushtits, swallows, wrens, woodpeckers, phoebes and finches are either sitting on eggs or constructing nests.
Think of them, then put off termite work, gutter repair and tree thinning.

Also: Nothing else does the kind of job that birds do controlling insects.
No pesticide matches their safety for humans.
If your hibiscus has whitefly, it’s probably because constant pruning keeps out the flocks of bushtits that would have devoured the insects.
If unwelcome caterpillars are wreaking havoc on your vegetables, rethink letting the garden crews with buzz saws evict the finches that would otherwise have eaten the pests.
If rats appear on your telephone wires at night, you don’t need poison. You need a hawk.

For trees and shrubs, water deeply and occasionally, say once a month, to avoid the stress of drought.

Years ago, in a bid to stop the routine destruction of nesting grounds in Southern California, the Los Angeles Audubon Society produced the Guide to Bird-Friendly Tree and Shrub Trimming and Removal.
Online versions are available in Spanish and English.…/…/when-to-prune-trees.html

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2 CommentsLeave a comment

  1. Such valuable information. With these basic tools we can each individually repair our immediate environment. All it takes is awareness, and that is FREE to all.

    • We can; we could— But every neighbor I mention it to looks hostile and turns away, my landlord nods and then ignores all information–
      I have seen no one take the unbelievably simple step of NOT hacking away (or asking ‘gardeners’ to not hack) at everything growing.
      Too much trouble to actually think about the idiotic routine that was, for unknown reasons, set in motion half a century ago, which has kept all middle-class homes looking raw, flat, meager, and unnatural.
      I have no idea why they choose to poison all wildlife, diminish greenery, destroy shade, and even avoid lushness–no matter how much water they waste–by keeping everything skimpy, cut-up, and knee-high.

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