January is pruning time for Sugar Maples. The sap can start running in February, and you want to prune when the sap is all down in the roots so the cuts won't bleed, which attracts insects and can cause disease and stress to the tree. We have a Sugar Maple on our tree lawn directly below the power lines, so I have been pruning the tree to prevent the branches from reaching them. Our tree was small enough that it hadn't reached the lines yet, and by cutting off about the top third of the tree I was able to establish a fairly decent flat top and still have some branch structure below. I first pruned it in the winter of 2005, and last winter I just thinned out the new shoots on top but didn't flat top it again. I decided to give the new branches another year to get thicker and get established. So this year I decided to whack 'em all off again, leaving about 6" of previous growth.
p.s. I would rather have been out riding my new bike (yeah!) but the pavement is wet and I don't really want it to get wet and salty. Besides, it is close to freezing so I guess it wouldn't have been too fun. The cats are very interested, as they are with anything new.
