Pruning is just like hairdressing. Think about it a haircut improves the health and look of our hair and pruning does the same for your garden. Like people plants are all different and while some need special pruning requirements some general rules of pruning can be followed.
The reasons to prune are endless. Pruning improves the vigor of plants by promoting more growth. Prune helps increase airflow around a plants foliage thereby reducing disease. Pruning always to control a plants growth and also always a gardener to shape a plant to their desired look but most importantly pruning can promote additional blooms and gives you more bloom for your buck Hair cuts remove dead ends and pruning removes dead and disease stems.
The confusing aspect around pruning comes with when to prune. You’ll hear avid gardeners speaking of pruning of old wood on raspberries to bear fruit this year, you’ll hear of pruning summer and fall blooming plants in spring and so on and so on.
To make it easy for you I suggest living by few common rules:
- 1. Prune deciduous trees, shrubs and fruit trees when they are dormant.
- 2 Prune spring flowering trees and shrubs after they bloom. Pruning flowering plants after they bloom not only encourages additional growth with some flowering shrubs like spirea you’ll also be rewarded with an additional bloom.
- 3. Evergreens such as spruce, cedar, junipers and cypress can be pruned anytime during the growing season. However evergreens with candles like pines need to be pruned when new branches or “candles” are forming (mid spring). Removal of any part of the “candle” will still allow new clusters of terminal buds to form on the remaining shoot. Finally disease, dead and broken stems can and should be removed immediately.
So how do you prune??
The key to successful pruning falls into a few precious techniques. When you prune you must always use shears or loppers that are sharp and sterilize (I suggest wiping your shears with bleach after pruning to reduce the chance of spreading disease.). All cuts made by your pruners should be clean cuts with no jagged edges at a 45 degree angle. The reason why you prune is not only to make plants look good but also to increase airflow. When pruning prune out all inward growing branches at the same time keeping the overall shape of your plant in mind.
Pruning: the hairdressing of horticultural and a great way to have a happy, healthy and stylized garden.
Finally tips:
- Only remove 1/3 of overall growth at any one time, this will reduce stress.
- Prune from bottom up and inside out.
- Prune on days of overcast weather and cool temperatures.
Stella D’oro Daylilies, Shasta Daisy Becky Leucantheum, Rudebekia Goldstrum ,Astible Sprite ,Echinacea Purpurea Magnus ,Shasta Daisy Becky Leucantheum
In Order
Astible Sprite: Hardniess Zone 3-8, Plant in full to part sun, Tiny pink flowers on deep rich green foliage, blooms mid summer.
Echinacea Purpurea Magnus: Stella D’oro Daylilies ,Shasta Daisy Becky Leucantheum ,Rudebekia Goldstrum
