trunk methods

Hello everyone. i dont see my post i just posted so im sorry if this is a second. I am a beginner and have been doing some reading. There is this article that talked about growing thick trunks. I am confused on some of the things they talked about. One thing that didnt make sense to me was cutting off the branches as it grew. Are they talking about all of the branches and letting just the trunk thicken? Would that just kill the tree from no photosynthesis? They talked about cutting the stalk to let the first branche grow from there and let it grow up and then cut the stalk at a higher point for the second branch in the process of tapering the trunk. Are these methods correct?

Hi.
you got to dissect the contents of the article you read.

first. the purpose of cutting the branches is to create ramification on most tree species.
the purpose of cutting the trunk is to create the taper of the trunk... or to shorten the tree.
cutting the branches won't kill the tree. your tree during winter got no leaves (no photosynthesis) yet they don't die right.
the method of cutting the stalk is just one of the of procedure of creating the tree form.

regards,
jun

It would help if you give us the name and author or location of the article. Not sure what you mean by cutting off the branches. Yes, a tried and true method of gaining trunk movement and taper is to cut the trunk at an angle at the first branch, let it grow, then cut it further up at the opposite angle. This is used in certain fast growing deciduous trees, like elm & maple.
Iris

Thanks for the imput. These things do make sense the way you both put them. I appreciate it.
Grant

Trunks get fatter also through the use of "sacrifice branches." These are low branches that you allow to grow over several growing seasons (years) without pruning them. As they get long and fat, the trunk BELOW them also grows. After 2-3 years, you cut those branches (sacrifice them) flush with the newly fattened trunk.

Repeat as many times as it takes for you to be happy with the trunk girth. This is combined with repeated trunk chops as Iris mentions.

Fattening trunks is not done overnight.