When we moved into a newly built house in Seguin, there were two young Live Oak trees in the front yard. These were probably cheaply bought by the developer in bulk, sight unseen. Nevertheless, three years later, they seem to be reasonably happy and the main trunks are vertical.
In their first year here, I kept their stakes in place and periodically deep watered them, especially during that summer which was brutally hot and dry. I also increased the size of the mulch circles around each tree in August of that first year. In the second year, their stakes were removed and the periodic deep waterings continued.
Now that these oaks have been in the ground just over three years, and I have evidence that they are actively growing, it’s time for their first major pruning.
There are two primary issues that I must consider when pruning oak trees. One concern is the general matter (for any tree) of removing branches that are not helpful for the overall shape, health, or strength of the tree. And the second, particular to oak trees, is being careful to avoid oak wilt.
Oak wilt is a serious, contagious disease of oak trees. The Texas A&M Forestry Service describes it this way, “A fungal infection caused by Bretziella fagacearum that infects oaks within their water-conducting vessels (xylem). The tree responds by plugging these tissues, resulting in a lack of water to the leaves. This causes canopy loss and death in most circumstances.”
The Texas A&M Forestry Service says this on pruning oak trees, “In Texas, fungal mats are produced when sap beetles are most active, making oaks more vulnerable to infection in spring. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid pruning oaks from February through June and to always immediately paint any pruning cut. Generally, the best time to prune trees is when trees are dormant and when fewer insects and diseases are present (Nov – Jan).”
January 2026, soon after the first freeze of the winter, seemed like a good time to prune my oak trees.
When young trees are stored in a nursery with pots close together, it is not uncommon for branches to curve upwards because they are being pressed by their neighbors. I have several examples of that in my oak trees. As they grow, the consequence is that branches curving upwards interfere with the growth of branches above them which are trying to grow horizontally (the preferred and stronger direction).
In any one pruning cycle, I don’t want to remove more than 25% of a tree’s volume. Given how many offending branches that are in my trees, removing them all will take a couple of years. So what I have done in this first year is to remove the most intrusive upward-growing branches in each tree.
Live Oak 1 (nearest the street) — planted 2022
The two principal issues with this tree were one lower branch that was curving upwards, and a fork at the top of the tree which meant that the leading branch had competition pushing it to one side.
Here’s the lower branch that was curving upwards.
And here is the wound after pruning and painting. I use ordinary matte black spray paint — it is not necessary to buy special pruning paint.
At the top of the tree there were a few branches that were competing with the leader (see below). I cut them away to give the leading branch more room and hopefully it will straighten out as it grows upwards.
So here’s the final result. The idea is to give priority to lateral branches that are growing more horizontally, and to have only one leading branch so that the tree can grow tall and strong.
Live Oak 2 (nearest the house) — planted 2022
This oak tree had more upward-curving branches than its neighbor and so I did not take them all this year. I removed the one that was the biggest and strongest.
Here is the tree after pruning. The painted wound is about half way up the left side of the trunk. That lowest branch on the right side also needs to be removed, but it’s less in the way than the one I cut and I’ll get to it next year.
This pruning session does leave the tree rather uneven for the moment, but now there is room for lateral branches to grow more horizontally. After next year’s pruning, the tree should be more balanced.
So here we are after the oak trees’ first “grown up” pruning.
The near tree will get thinned out more next year. For now, I have removed as much as I care to for the moment. All the cut branches went on the wood pile behind the house to decay at their own pace.
Rewilding My Lot 
Leave a comment