Pruning plants incorrectly can ruin your trees and shrubs.
The worst pruning blunders can cause unnecessary plant stress and result in an unsightly mess.
Marty Baldwin
1.
Credit:Marty Baldwin
It doesn’t harm the plant long term, but the results are visible for an entire growing season.
Plants produce flower and fruit buds at different times throughout the year.
Other flowering shrubs produce flower buds in spring for flowers in summer and fall.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Wait to prune spring and summer flowering plants until after they flower.
An exception to this guideline isfruit trees.
Even though they bloom in spring,most fruit trees should be prunedin late winter.
Thriving green growth supports the plants branch and root systems.
A drastic reduction in food-producing green growth adversely affects all parts of the plant.
Extreme pruning can end up killing a plant.
Prune very overgrown plants over a span of three years.
This lateral branch soon takes over the role of the removed branch, producing healthy growth.
Pruning late in the growing season can produce a flush of tender new growth.
The new growth is not sufficiently hardy to withstand winters freeze and thaw cycles.
Decay can quickly set in, zapping the new growth and creeping into nearby branches.
Better Approach:Don’t prune after September 1 in most regions.
Get a jump start onspring garden choresbypruning treesand shrubs in late winter.
Better Approach:Allow pruning wounds to heal naturally.
Do not apply any tar or paint to the wound site.
Better Approach:Use the three-cut pruning method for branches larger than 2 inches in diameter.
The first cut is an undercut about 5 inches from the trunk or adjoining branch.
Make the undercut about halfway through the branch.
The second cut takes place a few inches beyond the undercut and removes the branchs weight.
Finally, the third cut removes the stump that’s left.
Cut off the stump just before the branch collarthe somewhat swollen area where the branch attaches to the tree.
Make the cut at a 45-degree angle.
Arborists are trained to safely and properly handle pruning woody plants.
Pruning in a Hurry
Skillful pruning takes time.
Never rush a pruning job.
Better Approach:Make the easy cuts first.
Remove dead, diseased, or damaged wood.
Remove branches that are crossing, rubbing, or growing into each other.
Then step back and look at the plant from all sides.
Remove branches to their base to reduce the size of the plant.
Be mindful not to remove more than one-third of the plants mass.
