Unpopular opinion: I gave a big oak a light trim in the fall and it bled sap for months

I had a client in Springfield who really wanted their big white oak cleaned up last October. It wasn't a heavy cut, just some deadwood and a few small crossing limbs. I figured it was late enough in the season it would be fine. Wrong. That thing wept sap from every cut spot all winter long, right through February. It wasn't a little bit, it was a constant, sticky drip that stained their patio. In my experience, you always hear 'don't prune oaks in spring', but I learned the hard way that a late fall trim can be just as bad for some of them. The tree seems okay now, but I won't do that again. Has anyone else run into a specific species that just won't stop bleeding after an off-season prune?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.barbara27d ago

My tree cried harder than I do after leg day.

samwalker1mo ago

Yeah, I've had the opposite happen. My late fall trims on oaks have always been fine, no extra bleeding.

west.anna1mo ago

That makes sense, maybe it depends on the specific oak type or even the local weather that year. My neighbor swears by late fall pruning for his red oaks, says the cold seals the cuts up fast. He just makes sure to do it after a solid hard freeze, never had any issues with sap either.