Had a chat with an old arborist at the county fair that stuck with me

I was manning a booth at the county fair in Yates County back in July, and this retired arborist named Walt stopped by. He looked at my pruning cuts on a display branch and said "You're leaving too much collar, son. That tree's gonna heal ugly." He spent 10 minutes showing me how to angle the cut just right with a handsaw he pulled from his truck. Has anyone else had a random run-in with an old-timer that totally changed how they do a basic cut?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren30710d ago

...and he just had a handsaw sitting in his truck at the county fair? That's wild. Walt sounds like he'd be the guy with a sharpening stone in his glovebox too. I bet he could look at a branch and tell you exactly which storm took it down ten years ago. Must be nice to have that kind of wisdom just rolling around in your head, ready to pull out for anyone who asks.

calebrivera10d ago

Wait did Walt also tell you about the angle for a storm-damaged limb versus a dead one? I've always wondered if the cut changes based on what killed the branch or if it's all the same.