|
Begin with your handsaw on the breakage and dead-wood. Lay on the teeth at the member's basal swelling, on the upper side, and saw downward flush to the trunk or parent member. Go slowly at first, until you learn your tool's balance and reach. Branches more than an inch thick, and bearing some weight, will tend to sag and tear away before you finish your downward cut. (See Fig. 3.) Prevent this by steadying the branch with your free hand. Or, before you start cutting down, make first a shallow upward cut into the
underside of the branch's base. On branches two inches thick or more, take this precaution by making three cuts: one from below, a few inches away from the base; the next close above, down from the top until the branch snaps off; the last, down through the base to flush off the stub (Fig. 4). If a forking branch is pruned, make the trial cut upward to come flush (Fig, 5). |
|||
|
