Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn't room for any other thought....
- Sophie Scholl
Donald Pell~Gardens
Designing & building your beautiful, sustainable landscape
Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn't room for any other thought....
- Sophie Scholl
P.O
Southeastern, PA 19399
610-917-1385
610-917-9941 (fax)
Pruning Basics
Pruning is the removal of parts of a plant that are dead, diseased or no longer needed so that additional energy will be available to those parts of the plant that best fulfill the requirements of a given situation. (PLNA)
Reasons for pruning:
Maintain plant health
Restrict growth
Improve the quality of flowers, fruit, stems or foliage
Training the plant
The key to pruning is to have a plan:
1) An experienced pruner always removes dead, diseased or damaged material first. The cuts are never at an arbitrary point but just above a bud or good branch. Additional pruning is likely unnecessary after this stage.
2) Make necessary training cuts. By cutting selected lateral branches a tree or shrub can be trained to develop a desired shape.
3) Make corrective pruning cuts. This means removing an undesirable 2nd leader, weak or narrow crotches or branches that rub.
Shrubs and trees that produce flowers in the early spring (on old growth) should be pruned after the flowers fade and just as the new leaf growth starts.
To rejuvenate an old, overgrown shrub: 1/3rd of the oldest, tallest branches can be removed at or just above ground level before the new growth starts.
Remove water sprouts or suckers. Without pruning the suckers use food/energy that could be used for a more desirable part of the plant. Remove them at the point of origin.
Pinch the buds at the tips of the branches. This causes the dormant buds along the stem to produce more branches. This will produce a fuller plant.
