Pruning Vines, Shrubs, and Ornamental Trees

In home landscaping, trimming trees and shrubs properly is a necessary maintenance procedure that improves the aesthetics of practically any type of tree or shrub. On the other side, poor pruning can weaken plants and make them more susceptible to disease, which can ruin a tree or shrub’s natural beauty and limit its potential as a landscape element.

Pruning, like any other talent, takes practice and understanding to be successful. Recall that pruning frequently entails removing specific plant components that are no longer beneficial to the plant or functional. This is done to reroute more energy for the growth of the remaining leaves, blooms, fruits, and branches. Pruning basically entails cutting off portions of a plant in order to enhance its value, health, or landscape effect. Pruning is essentially an exercise in common sense after the goals are established and a few fundamental concepts are comprehended. If you know the fundamentals and take the time to learn why, when, and how to prune, pruning is not difficult.

Choosing the right plant for the spot might minimize or completely remove the need for trimming. Pruning plants that could grow too big for the location is necessary to maintain them within boundaries, which not only ruins the original intention but also makes the plants look bad and may get weaker with time. If so, think about switching it out for a smaller growing tree or shrub, such as a dwarf cultivar of the original species, which is shorter, or a fastigiate or columnar cultivar, which is wider but narrower. Pruning shouldn’t be used to ruin or change a plant’s natural shape unless it’s to create a formal hedge, espalier, or topiary.

Advantages

To keep a tree or shrub robust, pruning could be required. Pruning is specifically used to:

Teach the plant – Pruning helps reduce the risk of branches spreading over buildings or interfering with power lines. It can also free obstructed sight lines at driveways or street corners caused by overhanging branches, preventing injury or property damage. It can also remove weak crotches before limbs break in heavy winds or ice storms. As previously mentioned, shearing and pruning may also be employed to form plants into topiaries, hedges, or espaliers.

Preserve plant health: By eliminating weak or crowded branches, pruning back unwanted growth can encourage plant vitality. Such thinning frequently enhances the plant’s symmetry or visual balance. Maintaining the form, vitality, and health of the plant will also benefit from the removal of dead, diseased, or broken branches.

Enhance the quality of the stems, leaves, fruit, and flowers. Removing the fading flowers and fruit clusters from this year might encourage the growth of bloom buds for the upcoming season. For certain overgrown shrubs, proper pruning can bring them back to a youthful, natural growth pattern.

Limit growth: Pruning on a regular basis helps keep plants from outgrowing their niche in the landscape and helps avoid the necessity for future harsh trimming (butchery).

Prune: Why?

Preserve and enhance the health of plants

Boost fruit and blooming

Remove any rotting, damaged, or dead wood.

Take out any branches that are rubbing or crossing.

Regulate the size and form of natural objects

Security

Seeing

Make provisions for air movement and sun exposure.

Bring symmetry and equilibrium back.

revitalize trees and shrubs

Materials and Tools

Hire a qualified arborist who is insured against property damage and personal harm if a power saw is required. Pruning instruments should only be used by expert arborists or when a suitable safety harness is worn. Before starting work, have someone hold the ladder or secure it in place if you need to climb a ladder to reach limbs.

Equipment should be kept in good working order and sharp by being stored in a dry area. To stop the illness from spreading to healthy plants during the pruning process, thoroughly clean all shear and saw blades after each cut made on sick plants. Soak the instruments in rubbing alcohol or a bleach-to-water solution (1 part to 9 parts). Pruning fire blight from pears, pyracantha, or crabapples is one way to do this. To prevent rust, give the pruning tools a thorough oiling at the end of the day.

Tool Maintenance

Regularly oil and clean instruments, being sure to wipe blades and other metal surfaces with an oiled cloth. Maintain sharp cutting edges; a few swipes with a high-quality oilstone should typically do the trick. Apply paint or varnish to wooden handles to protect them. Make good use of tools. Avoid twisting or straining loppers or pruners. As close to the pivot and as far into the jaws as you can, keep the branch to be sliced. Avoid using pruning tools to cut cables.

Dressing Wounds

Studies have shown that tree paint and wound dressings are not as necessary as once believed. Instead of keeping disease germs out, dressings may actively foster them. Furthermore, it has been found that wound dressing actually slows down rather than speeds up the process of wound callusing, which is sometimes mistakenly referred to as healing. Pruning that is neat, clean, and unpainted will often callus more quickly than painting it. Paint should not be applied to pruning cuts based only on the health of the tree.

Prune at the Right Moment

Pruning may be done at any time of year, although various plants need different periods of the year. Despite what is commonly believed, poor pruning done at the wrong time of year does not kill plants; rather, it damages or weakens them over time. Pruning should be done when it does the least amount of harm to the plant, not when it suits the pruner. If this guideline is observed, there is minimal possibility of causing harm to the plant. Most plants are best pruned in late winter or early spring, just before growth starts. This rule does include several exceptions, which are discussed under the sections pertaining to the various plant categories. The period right after new growth appears in the spring is the least ideal. The development of new growth uses a large quantity of the carbohydrates stored in the roots and stems. Before being removed, this “food” needs to be replaced by fresh leaves; otherwise, there may be a significant delay in the growth of the plant. This is a typical pruning issue that comes up.

Furthermore, since certain plants may be encouraged to grow again in the late summer, it is best to avoid doing too much pruning in this time of year. If cold weather hits before this “soft” growth has had the time to harden off, it might cause cold damage or winterkill. To prevent future pest and disease issues, prune plants that have been harmed by storms, vandalism, or dead branches as soon as feasible.

When planting, only minimal trimming is necessary since the young tree needs all the energy it can receive from the wood’s storage capacity and the leaves’ capacity to produce energy. When planting, trees shouldn’t be “headed back” in order to “balance” the crown and roots. In order to maintain “balance,” the tree will automatically shed branches or twigs (self-pruning). When these branches pass away, it will be possible to remove them. However, during planting time, any dead, diseased, damaged, or rubbing branches should be removed. Pruning is necessary as soon as the tree is established in order to maintain good shape later on.

Every year, trees and shrubs should have their trimming needs assessed. All too frequently, pruning is neglected for a number of years, which causes the plants to grow out of control. Subsequently, severe pruning is required to restore the plant’s shape and use. When trees are trained well as young plants, they require less trimming as they get older. Refer to Extension Fact Sheet HLA-6415 for further details on training trees.