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Forestry use in Prosopis flexuosa woodlands in the Central Monte is limited by low wood productivity and by most of the trees being multi-stemmed. Desert inhabitants have turned pruning into a common practice to get some forest products, increase wood production and improve tree shape. In this study we tested pruning practices used by locals on trees of different diameter classes and different pruning intensities in the aeolian plains of the Central Monte Desert. Two trials were conducted: (a) we tested the effects of pruning on three types of trees: adult multi-stemmed trees (7.5–15 cm basal diameter; n = 12 for pruned trees and 10 for control), young trees (3–7.5 cm basal diameter; n = 20 for pruned trees and 18 for control), and saplings (<3 cm basal diameter; n = 15 for pruned trees and 18 for control); (b) we compared the effects of different pruning intensities: heavy pruning (50% of crown removed and n = 10 …