Pruning
The cutting of branches of a tree regulates the foliage mass and prevents the breaking of branches with structural defects. Through the reduction of the foliage and the removal of the dried out, upperlevel parts, pruning performs a support action for the tree: it favors recovery of the development and of the relative formation of new wood, avoids major lesions to the tree like breaking of the branches and assures the necessary safety of the plant. The correct pruning technique takes into consideration certain indispensable precautions:

• do not use a wire cut to the trunk
• do not remove the bark at the neck of the branch
• do not leave dead or live stumps
• respect the usual form of the species.

On the whole, all pruning interventions are done through a drop-crotch cut and respecting the collar, that is the zone between the trunk and the branch, which absolutely must not be injured. Finally, good pruning cannot neglect the morphological and physiological characteristics of the species which must not be altered after the intervention.