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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 23, Number 3 (1972) → Epicormic sprouting of eastern cottonwood clones affected by pruning date

Epicormic sprouting of eastern cottonwood clones affected by pruning date

To produce high quality Populus veneer logs on short rotations, clonal lines of superior growth rate are needed. Pruning of crop trees is also required. Pruning should be done when epicormic sprouting will be minimal and also when insects or disease are not likely to be a problem. McKnight (1970) indicates that the best time to prune cottonwood in the Mississippi Delta appears to be spring or summer. An FAO publication "Poplars in Forestry and Land Use" (1958) recommends Populus species be pruned February through March. The Study To determine when epicormic sprouting would be minimal under East Texas growth conditions, a pruning study was initiated in a cottonwood plantation located on the Texas A&M University farm in Burleson County, Tex. Thirty-five Populus deltoides clones, each with four ramets, were established at a 20x20-foot spacing on a Norwood clay loam soil. The clones averaged around 12 feet in total height when the pruning study was started, during the winter following the first growing season.


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Author(s): Ronald A. Woessner

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 23, Number 3 (1972)

Volume: 23

Number: 3