# Can I and should I prune these to a single main stem?

**URL:** <https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/can-i-and-should-i-prune-these-to-a-single-main-stem/64088>\
**Category:** Nature Talk\
**Created:** [April 18, 2025, 11:05pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/can-i-and-should-i-prune-these-to-a-single-main-stem/64088 "2025-04-18T23:05:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mikeschinlaub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@mikeschinlaub](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/mikeschinlaub)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:05pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/can-i-and-should-i-prune-these-to-a-single-main-stem/64088/1 "2025-04-18T23:05:05Z")

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These are American Hazlenut and Allegheny Servicberry. I’ve read somewhere that when trees have a big branch from the base, it can make them weak and prone to splitting. I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to prune these to have a single shoot, or if maybe it’s too late and I would do more harm than good.

First pic is a google image to show what I mean.

 ![1000008407](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/c/0/c059fa246a6db018c3d37174033e0fd29f2fc775.jpeg)

 ![1000008397](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/9/a/9a8e1f77663824b3c42106c79929188b652507f7.jpeg)  
 ![1000008398](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/b/2/b29877618eacb1737c112f6b89008789cd557c8d.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![mo0nsgreenthumb](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/mo0nsgreenthumb/32/52226_2.png) [@mo0nsgreenthumb](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/mo0nsgreenthumb)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:15pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/can-i-and-should-i-prune-these-to-a-single-main-stem/64088/2 "2025-04-18T23:15:49Z")

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American hazelnut will always do this, it’s a suckering shrub or small tree it’s not going to get big like your first picture that it will be a problem.

Serviceberry it depends on which kind you have but a lot of them are also suckering shrubs or small trees. Multistemmed serviceberries aren’t bad at all.

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**Author:** ![mikeschinlaub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@mikeschinlaub](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/mikeschinlaub)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/can-i-and-should-i-prune-these-to-a-single-main-stem/64088/3 "2025-04-18T23:31:23Z")

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Thanks. I’ll leave them alone.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/can-i-and-should-i-prune-these-to-a-single-main-stem/64088/4 "2025-06-17T23:32:11Z")

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Closed on June 17, 2025, 11:32pm UTC

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