Pruning plants could seem like a daunting chore, especially if you’re not sure how much to trim off or when it’s the right time to make your cuts to tame wayward plant growth. The worst pruning blunders could cause a lot of unnecessary plant stress and also result in an unsightly mess.
But, it’s worth noting that the wide majority of trees, shrubs, and other plants with woody growth are quite resilient and they often bounce back from a pruning job that has gone awry. However, if you steer clear of the following list of common mistakes when you prune the plants, and get in touch with the right tips for a better way to prune instead, your entire landscape will eventually benefit.
Pruning away developing flower or fruiting buds
Cutting off developing buds is by far the most common mistake people make when it comes to pruning flowering trees and shrubs. In reality, it doesn’t harm the plant in the long term, but the results are still visible for the entire developing season.
Plants generally produce flower and fruit buds at different times. Some plants, for example, that bloom in early spring, like hydrangeas, produce flower buds the summer before. Pruning a hydrangea in early spring removes the soon-to-open flower buds. Other flowering shrubs produce flower buds in spring for flowers in summer and fall.
Better approach: Here’s a general guideline: if you notice a tree or shrub blooming in spring and early summer, it will most likely produce its flower buds during the previous growing season. You should wait to prune spring and summer flowering plants long after they flower.
If a plant flowers somewhere in midsummer or even fall, it will probably produce flower buds during the current growing season. It also means that it can be pruned in early spring. An exception to this is represented by fruit trees. Even if they do bloom in spring, the wide majority of fruit trees should be pruned in late winter.
Removing way too much growth at one time
It’s quite tempting to overhaul an overgrown tree or shrub in a particular pruning session. The desire to bring the plant back into its shape, meld it with the surrounding landscape, or even finish the job can ultimately lead to taking off too much growth at once.
Thriving green growth also supports the plant’s branch and root systems. An impressive reduction in food-producing green growth can affect all parts of the plant. Extreme pruning can end up killing that plant. A much better approach is to never remove more than one-third of the plant’s mass during a growing season. Prune overgrown plants over a span of three years.
Topping a plant to reduce its height
In all honesty, topping is never the right way to prune your trees, and it’s rarely a good choice when it comes to reducing the size of large shrubs. Cutting back on large branches indiscriminately to reduce their length could cause a host of brand-new stems to emerge from buds just below the cut.
The new growth is generally weakly attached to the tree, and it soon becomes a hazard, especially since each branch can gain size and it’s increasingly susceptible to more damage. You can reduce a tree or shrub’s size by intentionally cutting branches back to the adjoining branch, especially if we talk about a tree or back to ground level for shrubs.
Another efficient method you can try to reduce the size of a tree is to cut a branch that is too long back to only a lateral branch that’s one-third to one-half the diameter of the branch you’re about to remove. This lateral branch will soon take over the role of the removed branch, producing much-needed healthy growth.
Pruning in late summer or autumn
It’s quite tempting to tidy up the landscape before winter comes by pruning either in late summer or fall. You should, however, resist that urge. Pruning late in the growing season can easily produce a flush of tender new growth.
The new growth isn’t hardy enough to withstand winter’s freeze and thaw cycles. Decay can easily set in, zapping the new growth and creeping into all the nearby branches. A much better approach is to postpone pruning after September 1. You can get a jump start on spring garden chores by simply pruning the trees and shrubs in late winter.
Applying tar or paint to a pruning wound
You must have seen tar or paint slathered on trunks or even large branches, especially where someone removed a specific branch. Once thought to prevent disease, these types of topical treatments can keep moisture in the wound area, creating the ideal environment for disease organisms to flourish.
A much more recommended approach is to prune the wounds you can naturally heal. Don’t apply any tar or paint to the wound site.
Removing larger branches with a single cut
Pruning a large branch needs multiple cuts to assure safety for both the gardener and the tree. If you remove a large branch with a single cut, it could easily result in the branch moving or pivoting, especially during the sawing process.
Then, it could potentially fall back on you, especially if it separates from the tree. Using a single cut on a large branch could also heighten the chance of the to-be-pruned branch pulling off nearby bark layers and even potentially damaging the tree.
A much better approach is to use the three-cut pruning method for branches that are larger than 2 inches in diameter. The first cut is an undercut about 5 inches from the trunk or adjoining branch.
You can make the undercut about halfway through the branch. The second cut takes place a few inches beyond the undercut and removes the branch’s weight. Finally, the third cut removes the stump that’s left. You can cut off the stump right before the branch collar, which is the swollen area where the branch attaches to the tree. You can also make the cut a 45-degree angle.
Pruning in a hurry
Skillful pruning takes a lot of time. If you ask me, you should never rush a pruning job. You might inevitably make cuts that might take years to correct, or you could even miss making necessary cuts to a correct structural issue before it’s way too late.
A much better advice would be to make the easy cuts first. You can remove the dead, diseased, or even damaged wood. Remove the branches that are crossing, rubbing, or even growing into each other. Then, carefully step back and look at the plant from all sides.
When you remove the branches to their base, it’s just to reduce the size of the plant, which in many cases is advised. When you prune the trees, remove the branches linked to the trunk at a narrow angle, because such weak unions are likely to break in a storm. Also, try to be mindful not to remove more than one-third of the plant’s mass.
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