I used to flush cut every stub before I watched a guy in Sacramento leave 6 inches on a red oak and I get it now

Hugo Reed · 2026-09-15T21:05:04.02059+00:00

For years I chased that clean look and cut every branch right back to the collar, and I never once stopped to think about what I was doing to the tree. Last month I was on a removal job outside Sacramento and an older climber named Ray left a good 6 inch stub on a big red oak limb, and I honestly thought he was just being lazy. He explained the stub lets the tree wall off the wound on its own time, and when I came back 4 months later that cut had sealed over way cleaner than the flush cuts I made on the same tree. Now I want to know how many of you were taught flush cuts in school, because I sure was and I feel like I got set up.

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I used to flush cut every stub before I watched a guy in Sacramento leave 6 inches on a red oak and I get it now | Arborists - Talk Freely