Pruning Your Trees and Shrubs

Pruning is the intentional cutting back of trees or shrubs to promote health, encourage new growth and to shape them into a more desirable form. It is a common practice in landscapes and can be done on ornamental plants, fruit trees, hedges and even lawns and golf courses.

A professional pruner uses the correct techniques to remove diseased, broken, dead, or problem branches while maintaining the structural integrity of the plant and removing any unsightly or unsafe limbs. Proper pruning can also increase the yield of certain fruit trees by allowing more sun and wind to reach the lower branches.

Often, woody plants “self-prune” in response to weather events or for other reasons. For example, if a tree branch breaks during a storm it will usually fall and shed its bark and end. This is called abscission or natural shedding and is a good reason to keep track of your plants and know when to prune them.

Most gardeners and homeowners prune plants for aesthetic purposes, such as removing dead or damaged branches, thinning out the canopy to allow more sunlight and air into the plant and creating a desired shape for the plant. The key to pruning for aesthetics is to cut away only what is needed and no more. Over-pruning can be detrimental to the health of your plants.

There are many different types of pruning cuts that can be made. For example, heading cuts, which are cuts to the ends of branches that concentrate energy on a small area of the branch, can be used to encourage more flower or fruit production. Thinner cuts, which are cuts to the base of a branch or limb, can be used to remove unruly suckers and take out branches that are encroaching on other limbs or blocking sunlight from the ground below.

In general, pruning is most effective on young trees and shrubs that have not yet become established. Large, mature shade trees are best left to the care of a qualified arborist or tree specialist.

It is recommended that pruning be done in early spring or late winter before new growth begins. This is especially true for flowering plants and berries, such as azalea, lilac, rose-of-Sharon, tulips, rhododendron, mountain laurel, magnolia, forsythia, chokeberry, and elmhursta. These plants all flower and produce their fruit on wood produced during the previous year. Pruning these plants before they bloom prevents the removal of any buds that will be used for next year’s flowers or fruit.

Wound dressings (also known as pruning paints) are no longer considered necessary, with the exception of oak wilt control. These products, made with turpentine, mineral spirits, creosote or pentachlorophenol compounds, seal the wound, inhibit the plant’s natural wound-healing process and slow drying of the interior wood, resulting in excessive moisture and encouraging decay and disease organisms. This is why it is important to use clean, sharp tools and clean them regularly with alcohol or a water and bleach mixture.

from Treby Tree Services https://trebytreeservices.wordpress.com/2024/10/06/pruning-your-trees-and-shrubs-2/