New Zealand Treecrops Association

Information Exchange Mailroom

Information Request:

Hello my name is Shane Gibson and I have 10 ha of lusitanica coming up to their first prune. Do you have any info on this subject? ie best time to prune, best technique, desired form, keeping records, etc etc. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Replies Received:

Tuesday, 12 August 2003
150mm DOS (diameter over stumps) is the ideal, this means that forestry trees of this type should be pruned to 130mm diameter of the trunk, this is easy for the first lift but can be dangerous for high pruning from a ladder. Always prune on the outside of the branch ring, but do not leave coathangers (short pieces of branch sticking out) Personally I do not worry too much about DOS, rather prune and photograh with a matchbox or simular standard size article, held against the tree trunk to give a good record. It is most important to prune branches before they die as dead branches leave loose knots when the timber dries.
I'm sorry but I regard Lusitanicas as lemons of the timber industry, as although the white timber does find favour for some uses, it is a very expensive tree to prune, the timber is not durable, and it is a slow grower.

John Dean.

Monday, 11 August 2003
Hi, this is a belated reply to your posting on the Tree Crops q&a board. .. there is a Forest Research Institute leaflet about cypresses, both lusitanica and microcarpa. ...

Best wishes,

Rosemary

http://www.treecrops.org.nz/knowl/infothr/lucit.html
Created: 2003 July 9 - Updated: Tuesday, 12 August 2003 - Updated: 2007 August 11