What is one primary characteristic of corrective pruning?

Corrective pruning primarily focuses on improving the health and safety of a tree by removing unhealthy or damaged branches. This practice is essential for allowing the tree to heal properly and preventing potential hazards by eliminating weak or diseased limbs that could fall. In this way, corrective pruning aims to enhance the structural integrity of the tree and stimulate growth in a more organized manner.

The other options involve different objectives that do not align with the primary focus of corrective pruning. For instance, enhancing tree height may not be a direct goal of corrective pruning; in fact, it may sometimes require the removal of upward-growing branches. Similarly, promoting lateral growth is more related to shaping and managing how a tree expands rather than addressing unhealthy parts of the tree. Lastly, while shaping the tree's overall appearance can be a consequence of pruning, it is not the primary intention behind corrective pruning, which centers on health and safety rather than aesthetics.