The answer to the question of whether you should prune your chestnut regularly will vary, depending on who you ask. Weigh the benefits and risks of a cut, and then decide for yourself.
Horse chestnuts should be pruned when they are leafless
Cut injuries can definitely be an entry point for various pathogens. The horse chestnut, like the sweet chestnut, is quite sensitive to diseases and various pests. Particular attention is paid to fungal diseases or the horse chestnut leaf miner. The latter occurs mainly in the common horse chestnut. It hardly causes any significant damage to other chestnut species.
When is a horse chestnut cut necessary?
It is highly recommended to cut off diseased or dry branches of a horse chestnut. A very dense growth with many water shoots is also a reason for pruning, as well as an inharmonious shape.
How should I go about cutting?
So that your horse chestnut suffers as little damage as possible from a cut, you should choose the time carefully. The ideal time for pruning is from October to late February or early March. If possible, the temperature should not rise above 4 °C in the days that follow. This minimizes the risk of a fungal infection enormously.
Only use well-sharpened and thoroughly cleaned tools for pruning your horse chestnut. This will help keep the tree healthy. Because the horse chestnut does not have a particularly good wound healing. Dirty cuts heal even worse.
It is best to prune your horse chestnut when it is still quite young. The branches to be cut should not be thicker than about five centimeters. In the case of older trees, this measure is difficult to maintain. In addition, a tree pruned early will rarely need a larger pruning later. Only a thinning out may still be necessary.
The essentials in brief:
- ideal time for cutting: October to February
- Carefully prune younger horse chestnuts
- only thin out older chestnuts
- If possible, only cut branches with a diameter of less than 5 cm
- clean and sharp tools minimize the risk of disease transmission
tips
The more careful you prune your horse chestnut in the early years, the less pruning you will have with the older tree.