A fully grown spruce is not a small one, but a quite stately tree. It can grow up to 60 meters high and has a trunk diameter of about two meters. All in all, a spruce needs several square meters of space.
The lower branches of the spruce often hang far down
Hardly any other plants grow under a spruce. If the branches reach down to the ground, then there is no space for paths or seats, so the lower branches are often sawn off. This can be useful, but should be well planned and carefully executed.
What happens if I cut off the lower branches?
Branches that you once cut or sawed off will not grow back. If there are holes or gaps in the silhouette as a result of cutting measures, then these only grow very slowly or not at all.
So always cut in such a way that the harmonious overall picture of your spruce is not disturbed. In order to maintain the stability of the tree, the spruce should not only be pruned on one side, for example because the neighbor is annoyed by overhanging branches.
What should I consider when cutting?
The lower branches of a spruce are usually quite long and correspondingly thick or stable. If you just want to saw off one of them, the branch will snap before it's cut all the way through. This tears the bark.
If you saw close to the trunk, the bark of the trunk may be severely damaged, through which pathogens for red rot or other diseases can enter. It is therefore better to saw in two steps.
First saw the branch to be removed about 40 to 50 centimeters from the trunk from below about a third deep. Then saw it off from the top about four inches closer to the trunk. The branch will break, but will not injure the trunk.
The essentials in brief:
- cut branches do not grow back
- Gaps are closing very slowly
- ideal time for cutting: November to February
- choose a frost-free day (reduces the risk of splinters)
- Saw in 2 steps (reduces the risk of injury to the trunk)
tips
The period from November to January is ideal for sawing off the lower branches.