Pruning may not be the most exciting task in the world, but it is very necessary if you want your plants to grow a certain way during certain seasons. Don’t know where to begin? Take a look at 6 step-by-step proper pruning principles Hermes Landscaping have put together for you.
1. Make sure to remove all dead or diseased wood.
2. Remove or cut back limbs that come out of the trunk at a narrow angle. These develop weak crotches which will break under a heavy load. Smaller limbs can be bent outward and propped with a stick so they develop a wide crotch.
3. Remove a limb that comes out of the trunk a few inches directly above or below another branch.
4. Thin out watersprouts. You will get twice as many back if you remove all of them in the winter. On the top of the tree where the limbs are exposed to the sun, leave one every two feet and cut off one fourth of their length.
5. Remove dangling branches or cut them back to an outward growing branch.
6. Remove branches that are crossing or crowded.
If the branches are not crowded, there is no need to continue with steps 5 and 6.
Have any specific pruning questions? Put them in a comment and let us help you get the results you want in your landscape.
Photo via life123.com