As I travel throughout the country, it’s not hard to come across evidence of improper pruning in both residential and commercial applications. It seems that when to prune, and how often to prune, are two concepts that are commonly misunderstood in the landscape.

Proper pruning helps improve the vigor and beauty of your plant material, and is an essential tool in maintaining a healthy landscape.

Reasons to Prune

Often people think of pruning as a purely aesthetic function that is focused solely on maintaining the natural shape of a tree or shrub, or to develop a particular form, as commonly observed in shaped hedges. There are actually many additional benefits associated with proper pruning, including:

• Rejuvenating old or declining plants by removing older wood so young growth can develop;
• Improving the chance of survival at transplanting time;
• Directing or correcting growth in the shade trees or avoid future problems, such as spatial conflicts with surrounding topiaries or structures;
• Improving or maintaining flowering by selectively removing some branches, allowing light to penetrate to the interior of the plant;
• Removing rubbing branches.

The approach to pruning varies depending on the type of plant, so it is important that you take into consideration not only the plant material itself, but also its seasonal requirements. 

Flowering Shrubs

The timing of pruning is important in order to achieve a balance between the plant’s negative growth and the plant’s ability to produce a maximum display of flowers. Woody species have two flowering patterns; they will either flower new growth in the summer or fall, or they will flower on one-year-old wood in the spring.

You should prune spring flowering plants at the end of the flowering season, just before new growth starts. Do not prune these plants during the winter, because it might remove all the flower buds.

Summer and fall flowering species may be pruned during the dormant season, when all other species may be pruned.

Hedges

Hedges are used as a visual block to hide objects, reduce noise or even to provide a windbreak. Pruning hedges requires techniques to produce the desirable shape and density. You can prune a hedge at least twice per year, or three to four times per year for a thicker hedge.

To assist you in the care and treatment of trees, you may also contact a certified arborist to help you identify the proper techniques for saplings and other woody perennials.