Pruning & Tree Maintenance Flashcards
6 cards from real ISA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Pruning & Tree Maintenance flashcards as text
What is 'vista pruning' and when is it an appropriate technique?
Answer: Selective thinning or creating windows in the crown to enhance a specific view while maintaining tree health and structure
Vista pruning involves selectively thinning or creating specific openings in the crown to provide or enhance a view through or beyond the tree, such as a lake, mountain, or architectural feature, while maintaining the tree's health and structural integrity.
Why should tree work specifications reference ANSI A300 standards?
Answer: ANSI A300 provides nationally recognized, science-based standards for tree care that ensure consistent quality and serve as the professional standard of care
ANSI A300 standards provide industry-accepted, science-based specifications for tree care practices. Referencing them in work specifications ensures consistent quality, defines clear expectations, and establishes the professional standard of care.
What factors should be considered when determining the pruning cycle interval for municipal street trees?
Answer: Tree species growth rate, age/size class, defect history, site conditions, risk tolerance, and available budget
Pruning cycle intervals should consider multiple factors: species growth rates, tree maturity, existing defects, proximity to targets, local weather patterns, community risk tolerance, and the budget required to maintain the inventory on the chosen cycle.
What is the proper technique for pruning a co-dominant leader to establish a single central leader in a young shade tree?
Answer: Reduce the competing leader by cutting back to a lateral branch, subordinating it to the preferred leader over successive pruning cycles
Subordination pruning reduces the competing leader through reduction cuts to appropriate laterals, slowing its growth and allowing the preferred leader to gain dominance gradually over multiple pruning cycles.
When is crown restoration pruning appropriate and what are its objectives?
Answer: After storm damage or previous topping, to selectively develop a new, sustainable crown structure from the resulting sprout growth
Crown restoration is used on trees that have been topped, severely storm-damaged, or otherwise lost their normal crown structure. It involves selecting the best-positioned sprouts to develop as new scaffold branches and gradually removing competing growth over multiple pruning cycles.
What special considerations apply when pruning palm trees compared to dicotyledonous trees?
Answer: Palms lack a vascular cambium and cannot close wounds; only dead fronds should be removed, and living fronds should not be cut above horizontal
Palms are monocots without vascular cambium, so they cannot produce wound closure tissue. Only dead and dying fronds should be removed, and living fronds should not be pruned above the horizontal plane (9-and-3 o'clock rule) to preserve the photosynthetic canopy.