Techniques of Pruning

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Techniques of Pruning
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5 Reasons For 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.
• To remove wilted or dead flowers and seed pods.
• 5. To rejuvenate a declining shrub.

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

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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.

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Tools Used For Pruning
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.
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• 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.

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

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

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4 Types of Pruning

• Thinning
• Heading
• Renewal
• Root

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Thinning

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

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Heading

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

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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.

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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.

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How And When To Prune

• 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.