Garden and Landscaping Shaping Shrubbery

By Richard Zondag

( SPONSORED CONTENT)— The question of when trees and shrubs should be cut back often gets asked. For most varieties, winter is the ideal time to trim. Dormant pruning allows you to see a plant’ s structure while the leaf canopy is absent, reducing the risk of disease or insect damage to newly cut branches.

Tips for Completing This Essential Winter Task

Pruning methods vary for shade trees, fruit trees and shrubs. In the sections that follow, we’ ll explore the best practices and pruning tips for each type. From maintaining a strong central leader in shade trees to shaping fruit trees for optimal growth and production and rejuvenating shrubs for vibrant blooms, this easy guide will equip you with the knowledge to prune with confidence.

Whether you ' re maintaining a mature landscape or nurturing young plants, these tips will help ensure healthy, thriving trees and shrubs year-round.

Shade Trees

Generally, shade trees should maintain one central leader as high in the trunk as possible. This is most important with fast-growing trees, as they tend to have weaker wood than slower-growing trees. If your young shade tree has a“ Y” in the leader that is low in the trunk, remove one of the leaders to strengthen the trunk and reduce the risk of damage from splitting during a wind or ice storm.

If the remaining leader is not straight, tie it to a stake to pull it straight. Side branches below the height where you want the tree’ s crown to begin should be removed. If your tree is very young, you can wait to prune low branches to encourage faster tree growth, but they should be removed before they are larger than a quarter in diameter. When removing branches, cut them as close to the trunk as possible without injuring the branch collar. This will allow the tree to heal completely as it continues to grow.

Fruit Trees

With fruit trees, having the canopy spread out rather than growing too tall is preferred, allowing for easier fruit harvest and tree maintenance. To accomplish this, remove the central leader when the tree is 6 to 7 feet tall. Then, select three to five horizontal branches in a whorled arrangement so none are directly above the other. This pattern opens the tree up for better sunlight penetration and keeps the stress from heavy fruit loads off the branch unions. If a branch is not horizontal, you can train it by pulling it down and tying it to a stake or inserting a splint in the branch union. As the tree grows, prune out branches that are too close together to prevent rubbing and the production of less desirable fruit. Reducing the number of branches will result in larger, more desirable, sweeter fruit.

Shrubs

Regarding shrubs, dormant pruning should only be done on varieties that flower on new wood. Do not winter prune those that flower on old wood, such as lilacs, forsythias and mock oranges, or you will remove the budwood for spring flowers. Instead, prune them immediately after flowering in spring or early summer.

To rejuvenate an old, overgrown shrub, remove half of the large stems 6 to 12 inches above the ground the first year and the other half the next year. New sprouts will grow from the pruned stems during the first summer. To renew an overgrown hedge, cut the plant back to 6 inches and continue pruning it back every year as the plant regrows.

Evergreens

Evergreens can also be pruned in winter. Care must be taken to avoid trimming them back beyond the foliage because evergreens cannot re-bud on old wood.

If you have an evergreen with a top that has taken off and you want to slow down the tree’ s growth, remove 2 to 3 inches from the top of the central leader. Then, tape together the side branches just below the cut with masking tape and remove one of the terminal buds so you are left with a new leader to keep the tree growing straight.

Doing so will also result in a bushier plant.

About the Author:

Richard Zondag is a horticulturist, master gardener and the owner of Jung Seed Co.

27 AcreageLife January 2025 AcreageLife. com