Pruning is done for a number of very good reasons and one all-too-common bad reason. It is a real art, and it will make a significant difference in the health and appearance of your woody shrubs and trees.
I am not rushing the season here, as this – right now – is the best time to prune most deciduous trees, well before they leaf out. I say ‘most’, because, like all rules, there are lots of exceptions. I won’t try to write the manual here, but I will try to encourage you to consider a few important things.
What we need to consider is Why, When and How to prune.
Here’s the Why:
To remove broken, dead or diseased branches. This is most important, as the damaged and diseased areas are where pests and diseases will find easy entry. This should be done any time of year; the sooner the better after you notice it.
To encourage and stimulate flowering and fruiting.
To rejuvenate old flowering shrubs. The older limbs on red and yellow-twig dogwoods, for example, begin to turn rough and brown as they thicken and age. By removing some of the oldest limbs each spring, we can encourage bright, vigorous new growth.
To maintain certain controlled shapes: trimmed hedges, topiary, etc.
To control the overall size of the plant. This is the bad reason I was talking about earlier: it usually means that you have the wrong plant for the space available. A beautiful young Black Lace Elderberry in flower in a one-gallon container at the nursery is just like a Rottweiler puppy; little and cute and cuddly. Read the tag, and you will see that this beauty will reach 10 feet in height and about the same width in a few years. If you find yourself chopping away to keep something under control, consider moving it or replacing it. It’s kinder to the plant, and easier on your back.
Here’s the When:
Generally (here I go again) prune deciduous trees well before they leaf out. Late winter is good. The exception to this would be the high sap trees (maple, birch, etc, that bleed profusely when cut this time of year, as they are converting and moving the food (sugar) that they have stored as starches through the winter. Prune these ‘bleeders’ in late spring after they have leafed out.
Pruning fruit-bearing trees in late winter/early spring, prior to bloom, will reduce the quantity of fruit, but will typically increase quality and size, and will help new buds to form for the following year.
Early flowering trees and shrubs that bloom on last year’s growth (lilac, viburnum, mock-orange) should be pruned right after the spring flowers are spent and dry, before the plant’s energy goes into setting seed. Be sure to remove any suckers from plants that are prone to suckering, including grafted plants that will try to revert to the rootstock cultivar by suckering, rather than energizing the grafted-on flowering cultivar.
Later flowering shrubs that bloom on the current season’s growth (hydrangea, currant, elder) should be pruned in spring, before active growth.
Pruning evergreens is a story in itself, so I will leave that to my book suggestion, below.
As suggested earlier, prune damaged and broken branches immediately.
Here’s the How:
First ~ get a good book ~ one that describes both pruning techniques and the When for each plant. A tip: try to find a book that is written by an expert from our region of North America. The plant references will be more relevant, and the practices will be appropriate for our climate.
Buy the very best tools, and keep them sharp. Bypass secateurs, or pruning shears, should be the highest quality you can afford. The bypass pruners have one blade that slides past the other, like scissors, rather than a single sharp blade that cuts the twig against a flat anvil. Felco makes a wide range of high quality secateurs to suit different hand sizes, and you’ll find the leather holster useful. A quality pruning saw that cuts on the pull stroke is invaluable for thicker stems and small limbs, and a lopper, or long-handled pruning shear, is very useful. The pruning poles with saw and lopper are great to have. Buy the one from Lee Valley with the fibreglass pole, and I’ll be over to borrow it often.
Learn (from the book) just where to make the cuts. For example, cut twigs back purposefully to an intersection with a larger branch; never just shear in between branches that take off from the twig. Thin out the centre of the shrub to encourage more light to reach in. Resist the temptation to cut tree branches back flush with the trunk to avoid any stub, as the collar where the limb joins the tree has unique cells that help to seal off the wound to keep out pests and disease.
Never remove too much at any one time. If you are rejuvenating an old tree or shrub (forsythia or dogwood, for example), take about one quarter of the oldest wood out (trim to the ground) in any given year. Remember that the leaves are the food factories for the plant, so too heavy a trim can be very harmful.
Again, the foregoing notes are generalities only (except for the Rottweiler), so please be guided by the expert advice in good pruning book, keep your secateurs sharp, and may all your dogwood twigs be bright.
We’ll talk again soon.
Thomas Dean of Black Sheep Design in Meaford, is a graduate of the University of Guelph in Horticulture and Landscape Design. Thomas will be a regular contributor of gardening and horticulture articles for The Meaford Independent.
You can contact Thomas by emailing: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
