trimming holly tree

[Charlie MV]

I have a huge holly tree. I mean it's huge, about 70 feet. The limbs grow to the ground making it difficult to mow under. I want to trim all of the bottom limbs up to about8 feet off the ground so we can have a nice shady area for work at a table as well as just sitting.

Do I have to wait until fall to trim it? Do I need to tar all the trimmed ends? Is there any reason not to trim? Are there other things I should consider?

Thanks all.

[Charlie MV]

Never mind , I trimmed it. I trimmed the bottom branches that touched the ground up to about 7 feet. We are mulching underneath and making a sitting area. Actually in SC it's a "settin" area but whatever.

Now for my question. Have I kilt my tree?

[applestar]

I don't know if you've killed your tree. I've heard that the best time to prune holly actually coincides with the December holiday season and you can take advantage of that by using the trimmings for holiday decoration. (But that all depends on local weather conditions, I imagine.)

But I've pruned my bush hollies in spring in the past and hadn't noticed any ill effects. (Too busy pre-holiday, too cold and frozen afterwards until spring, then too busy with spring seed starting until nice weather lures me outside. )

It sounds like a big tree, so the amount that was cut off is probably OK (as long as it was within the "no more than 1/3" rule). It might be a good idea to find out if any disease or insect problem might be an issue though....