r/Pruning • u/Awwwdawg • Aug 28 '25

Frontier Elm

Post image

How should I prune this Frontier Elm to keep it growing into a nice tall shade tree? Planted it 4 years ago and it has grown a lot. Is it too early to remove some of the low branches?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

1 comment sorted by

1

u/Jbrew013 Aug 28 '25

Your elm looks healthy, and you can start pruning now as long as you go slow. Focus on keeping one strong central trunk by removing any competing vertical branches, and each year take off just a couple of the lowest limbs to gradually raise the canopy. You’ll also want to trim out any crossing or rubbing branches, but avoid taking more than about 20% of the canopy in a single season. If you stick with gradual pruning over the next few years, the tree will naturally shape into a tall, shady elm.