Singapore launches first national pruning guidelines to improve tree care and safety

Crown and structural management 

• Guidelines and techniques for maintaining a tree’s crown form, including pruning towards a target form, crown cleaning, structural pruning, crown lifting, crown reduction and crown form restoration 

• Managing trees with specific structural defects, such as branches with high aspect ratio, codominant stems, lion-tailed branches and topped branches

Pruning techniques 

• Proper methods for branch removal and reduction, including the three-step cut for large branches, branch removal cut and reduction cut 

• Pruning of palm fronds

Pruning operations and considerations 

• General guidelines on pruning operations 

• Additional considerations, such as surveying work sites for the presence of wildlife and ensuring good biosecurity practices to prevent the spread of plant pests and pathogens