Pruning

Pruning Fruit and Other Flowering Trees

Late winter is a good time to prune most fruit trees. Pruning should be accomplished after severe winter weather has passed but before the tree has bloomed.

Prune your oldest trees first. With clean sharp clippers go in and remove any weak growth dead stems and cut back to healthy-looking buds. From these will come spring's first growth and you want the best to sprout out.

Trees under five years old are more subject to cold damage so prune them later (closer to when the tree blooms). Make sure all threat of frost is past so that when the new growth pops out after pruning it will not succumb to the cold.

But do not wait too long since then you will be pruning off the flower buds!

Late Winter Cutting Of Trees And Shrubs

This is a busy time of year in the garden. For those of you who maintain trees and shrubs late winter is the best time for pruning many of them. But how do you know what to cut and what to leave alone? For flowering trees and shrubs the general rule of thumb is if it blooms before mid-June prune it directly after flowering. If it flowers after mid-June prune it in late winter/early spring before flower buds are visible.

Spring blooming trees and shrubs such as apples cherries plums forsythia etc. develop their flower buds during the previous summer and fall. Pruning these plants in late winter would remove flower buds and lessen the show come spring. Therefore prune them after flowering ceases but before flower buds begin to develop for next year. If you examine the stems carefully you will be able to determine if buds have begun developing in the leaf axils (where a leaf attaches to a stem). If buds are evident your window of opportunity has closed. The moral of this story is to not put off your spring pruning chores too long. If a plant is really overgrown and pruning needs to be done cut it back anytime before late summer (August). You will sacrifice flowering next spring.

Q. When can I prune the nonproductive branches from my maple tree?

A. Now [mid-May] is a good time to prune your maples of all weak or spindly poor growth to allow the other branches more light and nutrients from the roots. In fact any bush or tree which is not blooming or about to bloom can be pruned.

Q. When can I prune my azaleas? I appreciate any advice you can give me.

A. Now [mid-May] is the time to prune azaleas if all the flowers are browned and falling off. Cut back to healthy buds