How to Thin Cedar Trees to Control Growth

Cedar trees grow to adult heights of between 25 and 75 feet, depending upon the cedar variety and growing conditions. Although thinning twigs on the trunk and larger branches helps to control their growth somewhat, choose a smaller red cedar tree instead of a larger American cedar tree for small growing spaces. Arborists usually advise against cutting off the tops of trees; it can be difficult to severely limit the growth of an adult cedar tree. Thinning is very useful, however, for shaping cedar trees and helping them fit into limited growing spaces. Prune mostly during winter, late spring and early summer.

Pruning shears
Hand saw
Pole pruner and lopper (for branches up to 20 feet off the ground)
Bucket
Alcohol or bleach

Instructions

- 1
  Prune small dead, damaged, diseased and crossed branches with pruning shears. Use pruning shears for small branches with diameters smaller than 1 inch. Prune branches just above the branch collar. The collar is the wider part around the base of the branch that connects the branch to the trunk.
- 2
  Use a handsaw to prune branches with diameters greater than 1 inch. Prune thick branches using three cuts. Make two cuts 1-to-2 feet away from the base of the branch to remove dead, damaged or crossed large branches. Then, cut the remaining stub of the branch with a third cut outside of the branch collar. Power saws are more difficult to sterilize, less safe for beginners to use and more difficult to make clean cuts with. It is best to use them only when absolutely necessary for extremely thick branches.
- 3
  Sterilize tools in between cutting each branch by dipping them in alcohol or bleach. Sterilization prevents diseases from traveling from one tree branch to another or from one tree to another.
- 4
  Prune cedar trees to remove multiple leaders, which are the vertical stems at the very tops of evergreen trees. In general, cutting off the tops of cedar trees is discouraged. However, cutting off multiple leaders and leaving only one behind ensures that the tree will have an attractive, straight growth pattern rather than a forked top portion of the tree. To trim a single leader on a cedar tree, prune it above other buds rather than cutting off the leader below other buds or branches.
- 5
  Train the tree to have a conical shape by trimming branches around the leader so that they are shorter than the leader. Continue trimming the tree in a conical shape by pruning branches near the top of the tree to take up less horizontal space than branches near the bottom of the tree.
- 6
  Control growth around the base of a large tree by pruning off the lower tree branches. Pruning lower branches creates more walking space under a tall tree.
- 7
  Control overly dense growth by selecting a few branches to remove in very dense sections.

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