{"id":9383,"date":"2017-01-11T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=9383"},"modified":"2017-01-10T19:33:12","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T00:33:12","slug":"five-simple-pruning-tips-for-diyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2017\/01\/11\/five-simple-pruning-tips-for-diyers\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Simple Pruning Tips For DIYers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"March<\/a>

March Rejuvenated viburnum 3 months after cutback<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Small<\/a>

Small Dramm pruner perfect for small 1\/4 inch pruning cuts<\/p><\/div>\n

Gardeners are frequently scared about\u00a0making pruning mistakes. There are lots of gardening books filled with lots of before and after photos. Let\u2019s face facts\u2026your yard tree or shrub does look like the ones pictured in the pruning book.<\/p>\n

Here are my simple 5 steps for pruning:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Why and When to prune:<\/strong> You can prune a tree or shrub any day of the year. The best time is generally\u00a0in late winter. Choose a comfortable weather\u00a0day to work outdoors so you\u2019re not in a hurry. Remove low growing branches in any month. Branches that are dead, broken, infested with scale insects, or diseased can also be sawed or lopped off anytime. If the job involves major pruning, e.g. 30% of branches removed, spring or summer pruning is best time.<\/li>\n
  2. Flowering\u00a0shrubs or trees —<\/strong>\u00a0when do they bloom? \u00a0Spring flowering shrubs and trees are best pruned immediately after or within one month after flowering. Can\u2019t wait?…then prune when you\u2019re ready. Crabapples, ornamental cherries, redbuds, dogwoods, azaleas, lilacs, forsythias, and spireas bloom on old wood in spring. Summer flowering woody plants bloom\u00a0on new wood. Examples\u00a0include most (not all) hydrangeas, chaste trees (Vitex), crape myrtles, althea (Hibiscus), butterfly bush (Buddleia), and roses.<\/li>\n
  3. Make the big cuts first.<\/strong> Take your time! Observe the tree from several points to determine the best cuts. Making many small cuts is okay, but they’re\u00a0a lot more time consuming. Small pruning cuts heal faster than bigger ones. Completely rejuvenated shrubs are cut back 6 – 12 inches above\u00a0the ground. Applying pruning wound paint is not necessary.<\/li>\n
  4. Use sharp pruning tools<\/strong>\u00a0—\u00a0Don\u2019t plan to do all work in 1\u00a0year. If the tree has been neglected for several years, it may take 3-4 years to bring back desired\u00a0shape and health. To repeat, don\u2019t remove more 30% of branches in any one year.<\/li>\n
  5. Large shade trees —<\/strong>\u00a0hire a certified arborist who should be properly\u00a0insured and licensed. Maples, oaks, lindens, elms, birches, and others should be pruned every 5 years. Tree topping should be avoided as this practice results in a tree potentially more hazardous.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Gardeners are frequently scared about\u00a0making pruning mistakes. There are lots of gardening books filled with lots of before and after photos. Let\u2019s face facts\u2026your yard tree or shrub does look like the ones pictured in the pruning book. Here are my simple 5 steps for pruning: Why and When to prune: You can prune a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[973,1269,1111,696,783,440,144,656,914,844,879,10,1112,1270,9,947,1164,1232,622,675,816,1311,856,623,949,1133,1257,1084,1001,1011,468,601,703,469,1076,1321,630,705,706,781,7,1085,1090,955],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9383"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9387,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383\/revisions\/9387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}