Transcript Pruning Handouts

Pruning
• Why
– Remove dead, damaged, diseased branches
– Promote strong branch unions
– Improve line-of-sight
– Control plant size and shape (branch location)
Tight crotch (<30°…)
 Low strength,
especially if there is
included bark
Prune when small
STEM/BRANCH
Buds – provides next
year’s branches, leaves
and sometimes flowers.
Pruning
• How
– Heading cuts – cutting off part of a shoot or
branch ...
– Thinning cuts – cutting back whole branches,
to the point where they connect with other
branches or the stem
Branch bark ridge
C-E
Branch collar
A-B-D
Incorrect
Correct
Show the order of
cutting of the branch
Three-cut method
for larger limbs
Pruning
• How
– Heading cuts
– Thinning cuts
– Large branches ... hire a professional arborist
– How much to remove? – <~25%
Pruning
• Time of year
– Late winter/early spring is best
– Elm, oak, honeylocust, mountain-ash, apple,
birch – NOT in summer
• Power lines – BE CAREFUL!
Indirect contact between you and the power
line can occur through a branch or a tool.
Consider hiring a professional arborist.
Pruning
• Don’t prune (a lot) at planting ...
• Shearing – a mixture of thinning and
indiscriminate heading to shape a shrub or
conifer