Part 2 of

Dec 07, Newton, Mass.

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Director of Urban Forestry explains how to prune an American elm, one of several planted in spring of by the Newton Tree Conservancy, whic. Jun 14, Ridding your tree of rival branches is called structural or subordinate pruning. The goal is to encourage the tree’s leader to grow by trimming competing branches. Training your young tree to grow the right way is simple and quick.

After the elm's structure is formed, you may still need to do some maintenance pruning.

Plus, this small step can often prevent expensive or damaging structural corrections later. It is wise to begin pruning your elm while it is young to help it develop a more solid branching structure.

Trees with good structure generally have one trunk, strong branch unions and a balanced.