Question

coast redwood shaving  

redwood branch removal   I have many questions, but for now would like to confirm that redwoods water themselves from the moisture in the air and bring the water down (due to its tall size).  PG&E forester (an RPF) tried to tell me they pull the water up from its roots, that's "why we can shave the trees."  I attach pics of their extreme practice (so that a branch won't fall on their wires..?) well how bout the entire tree falling when its dead?  What will happen to these trees? This practice is only done to redwoods, not oaks or any other, when clearly other species of trees' branches will brake on top of their wires.  Also This 'trimming' occurred mid march.  The branches were 'shaved' off to the trunk of the trees that are over 100 feet tall.  How is this justified and what will happen?  thank you.

Answer
Trees like most plants  get their water from the roots. The foliage can collect a little moisture but usually just enough to wet the outer cells of the leaf. Conifers can be pruned back as long as the top is not cut off and the remaining foliage is more than 1/2 of the tree crown. I agree pruning all of the limbs off one side of these trees does make it look bad but it by itself will not kill the trees. This called directional pruning. Cutting the branches back to the trunk is a good thing--leaving branch stubs will allow disease to enter the trunk and could cause heart decay. The spring after the hardwood trees leaf out is not the best time to prune but much better than late spring or summer. The best time would be winter before the leaves bud out in the spring. These trees should be fine.

Here is a web link to redwoods and water source. http://sunnyfortuna.com/explore/redwoods_and_water.htm