The production of defect-free, high quality stem wood may be promoted through pruning of branches in hardwood species, yet this practice may also lead to wood defects, such as stem discoloration.Here, models to predict stem discoloration and the time of branch occlusion were developed for Acer pseudoplatanus L. (sycamore maple) and Fraxinus excelsior L. (common ash) based on a pruning experiment in southwest Germany. The dataset consisted of 449 completely occluded branches originating from 115 destructively sampled sycamore maple and common ash trees that had been pruned either in late winter or summer, or had not been pruned and underwent natural branch shedding instead. We analyzed these data with linear and generalized linear mixed-effects models to predict (1) the time until branch occlusion, (2) the length of branch discolorations and (3) the occurrence of discolorations in the stem wood. For all treatments, the time until complete branch occlusion was negatively related to stem radial increment during branch occlusion and positively related to the branch diameter in case of green pruning or the length of the dead branch portion in case of natural branch shedding. The extent of branch discoloration was positively correlated with branch diameter (green pruning) or the dead branch length (natural shedding), which was itself correlated to branch diameter. The probability of stem discoloration after pruning increased with branch diameter and showed large interspecific differences, with a much higher risk for common ash. Thresholds for decay risk based on pruned branch diameters are reported for each species. In both branch and stem discoloration models, there was no evidence of significant effects related to the time of pruning.When analyzing a subset of the original data containing only branches with diameters up to 30mm, we found that green pruning significantly reduced the duration of branch occlusion. The extent of branch discoloration was positively related to branch diameter and occlusion time and was not affected by pruning treatment or species.Our results indicate that pruning reduces the duration of branch occlusion and, hence, has the potential to increase the proportion of defect-free wood. Furthermore, the duration of branch occlusion after artificial pruning should be minimized in order to reduce the risk of discoloration and decay. Therefore, green pruning should start early in the life of a tree when its branches are still thin and be applied only to vigorous trees that can occlude the wounds rapidly.