Pruning Trees
One of the best ways to ensure that your trees grow well is to maintain regular pruning. It is extremely important that you follow the correct pruning procedures for your tree's particular species as not all trees are pruned in the same way. Incorrect pruning can lead to a reduction in the growth rate of your tree and it can cause serious damage, even premature death.
To understand how to carry out pruning correctly requires both reading and practice. It is simply impossible to perfect the procedure without fully understanding some of the basic rules while also gaining some knowledge of different tree species.
Below is an introduction to the art of pruning, some basic guidelines and a few hints and tips.
Basic Pruning Guide
1. When to Prune a Tree
In Europe and North America it is best to prune deciduous plants in winter. Generally speaking most deciduous trees are usually cold hardy and require pruning during their dormant season. Do not prune deciduous trees in spring or summer. If such trees are pruned during their growing period the wound is likely to weep sap because, at this time, the sap is continually rising. This can seriously inhibit the healing process which can leave it open to bacterial and fungal infection.
Please be aware that not all trees that drop their leaves in winter are, necessarily, deciduous. In colder, harsher, climates it is common for many evergreen trees to lose their leaves as a reaction to the changes in temperature. Also any leaves that are damaged by harsh winter winds will, more than likely, die and fall from the tree only to be replaced in the spring. It is therefore likely that, in some areas, an evergreen may keep it's leaves one winter and drop them during another.
Nearly all evergreen trees (except coniferous trees), such as the Olive, should be considered cold sensitive plants. They are not hardy to temperatures below six degrees centigrade and, because of this, pruning should be carried out when there is little likelihood of a frost. Frost and extreme cold can damage the healing process leading to increased risk of bacterial and fungal infection. It is, therefore, best to prune such trees in the spring at the earliest opportunity.
2. How much should you prune?
Never prune a tree to the ground unless you know exactly what you are doing as this likely to kill it. Only a few trees such as the willow tree are able to withstand such a pruning. It is best to remove less than a third of the branches at the most and, if your tree needs more aggressive pruning, you should repeat the process until the desired size or structure is reached.
Removing too many branches from a tree obviously reduces the amount of leaves that tree will produce in that year. Leaves are vital to the health of a tree because, through the process of photosynthesis, they produce energy for the tree. If you reduce the amount of branches you reduce the amount of leaf and therefore you reduce the amount of energy made available to the tree for sustenance and growth.
More about pruning trees below, after this video presentation
3. How to Perform Pruning
Many gardeners insist that all pruning is good for all plants but this is a dangerous and too simple a generalization. Yes some plants such as the black currant bush will fruit best on the precious year's new wood so by carefully pruning it annually you can ensure sufficient new growth. However it is a dangerous assumption that pruning any tree will be beneficial. All pruning produces wounds where the limb has been removed and it is here that infection can develop and, as explained above, such actions reduce energy level. It is best to say that all trees suffer when pruned but all trees react differently and some recover faster than others.
Always ensure that you pruning tools, such as saws and loppers, are both clean and very sharp. Having sharp cutting implements ensures that any pruning produces a nice clean cut that will heal nicely. Clean tools will ensure that you avoid introducing any disease into the wound.
Always try to keep the cut size to an absolute minimum. You should not leave stubs, only leave a minimum amount of material from the trunk and remember that cutting too close to the trunk can lead to infection and cutting into the tree trunk will cause harm. If done correctly a callous will eventually form.
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