Pruning

The topic today is pruning.With these tips and methods you should have a much easier time evaluting what has to be done to get the job done more efficiently.
The weather may tell us the gardening season is coming to a close, but crisp winter days are a perfect time to do a little pruning.


Pruning Guidelines

1. Make all pruning cuts with the overall appearance of the shrub or tree in mind.

2. To avoid stubs, always take a branch back to a main stem, another branch, or an outward-facing bud.

3. For large branches, always follow the three-cut process. It's heartbreaking to cut corners and end up stripping the bark all the way down a trunk!

4. Stems need light to produce leaves, so prune to open the shrub to plenty of light.

5. If you are attempting to reduce a shrub's size, prune the branches at different heights to achieve a natural look.

6. To keep a shrub somewhat symmetrical, remove stems from all sides of the shrub equally. It helps to step back periodically and look at the shape of the entire plant as you are pruning.

7. Don't remove any more than 1/3 of the shrub at a time in order to leave enough leaf surfaces to provide food for the plant.

8. High-quality, sharp, bypass pruning shears and loppers are as important as the pruning process itself.

9. Place the pruning blade right next to the branch to get as flush a cut as possible.

10. A pulling motion makes the best cut with a pruning saw.

11. Pruning paint is not recommended except in special cases; a pruning cut will heal perfectly well on its own.
Start Your Pruning!

This time of year is perfect for starting a little light pruning of deciduous trees and shrubs since the leaves have fallen and you can see the plant shape easily. It's better to wait until late winter or early spring before bud break to do any heavy pruning.

The last thing I would like to note about pruning is most good landscapers or gardeners will tell you while it is okay to do some light pruning, don't make a hack job of it!
The only reasons to cut off branches are to eliminate crossing, diseased, or injured branches, to "head back" branches for aesthetic reasons, and to thin to open the crown to more light. Of course, hedges, evergreens, fruit trees, and espalier plants all have their own pruning principles.
It pays to know exactly what you are pruning, and to keep in mind that not everything needs to be pruned. If you don't have a reason for taking off a branch or limb, don't.



That's it for today.
Happy gardening!