Splitting a tree in half

[pombazaar]

Imagine you have a small 5 trunk tree that you want to split it in half or thirds to promote better growth, when do you think the optimal time to do this would be? A handful of people have said after dormancy. My logic is that spring/summer may be better to do the splitting to guarantee callousing by fall and then actually separate and repot after dormancy to not completely disturb the roots. I tested this on a tree back in May and it completely healed over. Does anyone see any pros or cons doing this mid season vs dormancy?

[Eykca]

Personally, I would do it during dormancy. I took over half an apricot tree off in the spring because I had not noticed that half of it was growing from the root stock and therefore was the wrong species. While the half that I left did not show any signs of stress, the trunk began to split at its surface, seeping sap. After a bit of research, I believe this was due to the stress of removing half the tree. I assume performing this extreme pruning during dormancy could have alleviated some of this stress. #my2cents.

[pombazaar]

Good info! Let me ask you this..will a tree in dormancy callous over when cut? Or would that occur next spring when it wakes back up?

[Eykca]

I did a little research and found this excerpt from arbordayblog.org

Faster Healing Process

When you prune a tree, you are actually wounding it. Like people, trees need adequate time to recover from their wounds and bounce back. The dormant season, when trees are already at rest, is the best time for them to heal. Pruning trees before new growth begins exposes them to less stress and allows for more robust new growth in the spring.

Sounds like I was in the wrong to hack my Blenheim apricot when I did. I couldn't let the "wrong" damn tree grow all year, though...