A hazardous situation may be caused by a defective branch or branches, even though the rest of the tree is sound. In this case, pruning the branch solves the problem. A branch is dead. A branch of sufficient size to cause injury is cracked or decayed. A weak branch union exists and one of the branches can be removed.
Branches form a sharp angle, twist, or bend.
A branch is lopsided or unbalanced with respect to the rest of the tree. A broken branch is lodged in the crown. Remove the branch and prune the stub. Pruning a tree properly early in its life is a good way to effectively avoid many potential problems when the tree is older and larger. When done correctly, routine pruning of trees does not promote future defects.