Techniques of Pruning

1. To remove dead, diseased, insect-infested, or broken branches.

2. To change the size or proportion of the plant.

3. To develop a special form or shape, such as in hedge pruning or topiary and espalier work.

4. To remove wilted or dead flowers and seed pods.

5. To rejuvenate a declining shrub.

5 Reasons For Pruning

Tips for Pruning

1. Shrubs that produce flowers on wood grown the previous season should be pruned immediately after flowers fall off plant.

• Examples are early spring flowers such as forsythia, azaleas, spirea.2. Shrubs that bloom on current year’s growth

such as roses should be pruned in fall or early spring.

More tips

• 3. Shrubs such as hydrangea and spirea require annual pruning to thin out old dead

wood.

• 4. Some suckers or shoots from plant roots should be removed to keep plant from becoming too thick.

• Pruning saw: has a coarse teeth setting; can cut through green wood or dead wood without pinching the saw

Pruning saw Lopping shears

• Lopping shears: used for cutting larger branches. Long handles increase leverage and ability to cut larger limbs.

Tools Used For Pruning

• Hand shears or pruning shears have a single blade that cuts against another piece of metal or two blades that work like scissors to cut limbs up to ½” in diameter.

More Tools• Pole pruner: has a saw and a hook; used to remove branches 10-12’ overhead

• Chain saw: used extensively to remove large branches that are 3” or more in diameter

• Grass shears have two blades designed to cut grass around edges of walks or flower beds.

• Power pole pruner: a small chain saw on an extended handle; used to remove overhead branches

4 Types of Pruning:•Thinning•Heading•Renewal•Root

Thinning

1. Thinning removes certain branches to open up the plant and keep the natural shape.

Heading

• 2. Heading back removes the end section of branches at the same height so that new shoots make the plant thicker.

Renewal Pruning

3. Renewal pruning removes old branches that are large and unproductive by cutting them back to ground level. It is usually effective on flowering shrubs.

• That's cutting a branch back to just above a good bud.

• Limbs that cross or rub together should be pruned. This opens the inside of the tree up to let light in.

Root Pruning• Root pruning is usually done one growing

season prior to transplanting. The general rule is that one inch of stem diameter equals 10” of circle diameter for pruning roots around plant.

• Cutting at the proper angle:

- Cut the plant stem at a 90º angle

- When pruning, be sure that the natural shape and form of the plant is maintained.

• When:

- It depends on when the plant flowers or bears fruit.

How And When To Prune