Tree Pruning: Principles and Practice for Healthy Trees

About this course

Pruning is one of the most commonly performed — and most commonly misunderstood — tree management activity worldwide. This course gives you a science-based foundation for making good pruning decisions, from the first cut to the larger ecological and governance context.Developed in the Indian urban context, where poor practices such as topping, lion-tailing, and flush cutting are widespread, the course addresses these directly — explaining not just what goes wrong, but why, using tree biology as the foundation. The principles taught are fully applicable across tropical regions and to temperate contexts as well.You will learn how trees respond to wounds, why correct cut placement matters, and how to decide whether pruning is the right intervention at all — before covering the full range of pruning objectives, from crown cleaning and formative pruning to pollarding and coppicing.This course is also available as part of a credited arboriculture programme through Transdisciplinary University (TDU). Enrolment on Udemy does not confer TDU credit — please visit TDU directly for credit course information.What You'll LearnIdentify the branch collar and branch bark ridge and make correct pruning cutsApply the 3-step cut method to remove branches safely without bark tearingUnderstand CODIT and how trees compartmentalise — not heal — woundsRecognise and explain common poor pruning practices and their long-term consequencesDistinguish between crown cleaning, crown lifting, crown reduction, formative pruning, pollarding, and coppicingDecide whether, when, and how much to prune based on species, season, and tree healthUnderstand the physiological stresses that pruning imposes on a treeSituate pruning within urban tree governance and permit frameworksRequirementsNo p