Tree Pruning: Principles and Practice for Healthy Trees

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 Learn

• Identify the branch collar and branch bark ridge and make correct pruning cuts

• Apply the 3-step cut method to remove branches safely without bark tearing

• Understand CODIT and how trees compartmentalise — not heal — wounds

• Recognise and explain common poor pruning practices and their long-term consequences

• Distinguish between crown cleaning, crown lifting, crown reduction, formative pruning, pollarding, and coppicing

• Decide whether, when, and how much to prune based on species, season, and tree health

• Understand the physiological stresses that pruning imposes on a tree

• Situate pruning within urban tree governance and permit frameworks

Requirements

• No prior arboriculture qualification required

• Basic familiarity with trees is helpful — an introductory trees course such as our "What is a Tree? Learn about the functions & characteristics" is recommended

• Learners will need access to a tree and a pair of secateurs or a pruning saw to complete the practical assignment