Country Living in a Cariboo Valley

Homesteading in BC

  • How to Get Started
  • Preserving Food
  • Recipes
  • Homemade Wine Recipes
  • Spend Less
  • eBooks
    • Delicious Dandelions: A Recipe Collection
    • Dirt to Dollars: Selling at the Farmers Market
    • 8 Pounds in 8 Weeks: Raising Chicks for the Dinner Table
    • Making Wild Wine
    • Build a Hanging Chicken Feeder
    • 15 Things to Know About Living in the Country
  • About Us
  • Work With Me

Pruning Tips for Your Shrubs and Trees

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through these links, I may earn a small commission.

Pruning is a valuable skill for any gardener, although I found it quite intimidating in the beginning. But learning how to prune shrubs and trees properly will really benefit them. Plus, it adds to the overall aesthetics of your garden.

Many people look at pruning with apprehension. They worry that they might cut the wrong part of the plant or prevent it from growing any more. Or even kill it.

But if you prune your shrubs and trees properly, you will actually stimulate the plant to grow more. You can even dictate which way you want it to grow.

 

Tips on how to prune shrubs and trees. Spring pruning for your backyard garden. #shrubs #garden #backyard #pruning

 

Here are some tips to help you get acquainted with the basics of pruning, so you can pick up the sheers with confidence.

 

Pruning Tips for Your Garden

 

 

 

Prune in order to first remove any parts of the plant that are dead or are dying. Not only will it look better, the tree’s energy will now be solely be going into live branches, instead of trying to keep a dying branch alive.

Now you can start to prune any branches that are too close together. Stand back often to look at the tree or shrub at a distance; this will help gain perspective and you can see the tree from several angles.

 

 

Before you prune your shrubs or trees, do some research online . Find out about your specific plants and learn how to recognize when they need to be pruned.

Take a Look at  5 Reasons to Plant a Vegetable Garden

Generally, you prune woody plants in the spring.

 

When to Prune Shrubs

 

 

You should prune shrubs that bloom in spring and early summer just after they have flowered, to increase their growth and strength. When you have a plant that tends to bloom later in the year, in summer or fall, then you should prune them in the spring.

This will increase their production of new shoots. All cuts made during pruning should be clean and smooth, to enable adequate healing.

This means that your equipment should always be as sharp and effective as possible. Take the time to make sure your pruners and other tools are good to go.

In the photo of the hydrangea shrub above, those lowest 3 branches will get pruned after flowering. Because I want this shrub to grow taller before getting wider, those shoots of new growth at the top of the shrub will stay.

 

Cut fruit tree branches at an angle.

 

Always make the cuts at an angle, to prevent water collecting in the open wound and to encourage healing. If you cut too close to the bud it will die.

However, if you cut too far away from the bud, the wood above will die. So make sure you get this balance right.

 

When to Prune Fruit Trees

 

 

 

Fruit trees bloom in early spring, so prune them right after they flower. Don’t forget – ALWAYS cut at an angle.

Prune any branches that crisscross each other. You can see some of those crossed branches in the photo above.

Take a Look at  Turning Rhubarb into Wine

Those branches will be pruned out in a couple of weeks when this Apple tree has finished blooming.

 

 

Note: When pruning citrus trees, make sure to leave the trunk as covered as possible. You should not see the trunk of the tree.

 

Pruning Espaliered Trees

Some people choose to espalier their fruit trees. This means the tree is planted very close to a wall (think south facing wall of the garage or house) and then trained to grow along the wall.

The tree uses the building as a support, and is heavily pruned into horizontal cordons or candelabra shapes.

 

Espaliering fruit trees is also a great way to build a small micro climate! The heat from the wall could bump you up a full gardening zone (or even two!).

So, if you want to try to grow a peach tree, even though it’s too cold in your area, try using the espalier method. Wrap or cover the trees for the winter. My grandfather was able to grow beautiful peaches using this method.

Here’s a great article to learn more about pruning espaliered trees.

 

Here's when to prune spring blooming shrubs. How to prune summer blooming shrubs. Pruning woody perennial shrubs to keep their shape. #DIYgarden #DIYbackyard #perennial #gardening #pruning #spring

 

Planting trees in your backyard? Here’s what you need to know about planting fruit trees

Why not make a beautiful perennial border in that sunny part of your yard?

Got a shady spot? Here’s a flower bed made just for the shade!

Need to transplant a woody shrub?

 

 

Want to find out which are The 5 Easiest Vegetables to Grow?

Grab the free download available only to subscribers!

 

Just click to Share

111shares
  • Share 5
  • Tweet


Filed Under: Grow Your Own Fruit

Comments

  1. Amanda says

    at

    I won’t even tell you how many plants I’ve killed in my life, but it’s fun to clip (or in my case just yank, probably the cause of some of the deaths) part of a plant and stick in water to see what happens. Thank you for the tips! I wonder about pruning apple trees.. I bet that falls under woody plants. Perhaps pruning them a certain way would produce more apples? I’ve got some red squirrels here that seem interested in the immature apples, which I think is strange since they are sour. I run outside and they leave, but they come back minutes later. Their fur sure is pretty! I wonder if I could make some red squirrel moccasins. Oh well there are still plenty of apples. Ok I better stop before you know the apple tree’s entire life story. Thanks Annie 🙂

    • Annie says

      at

      Amanda, you could always use the squirrel fur inside your regular slippers or moccasins, I think that would be uber-comfortable! What kind of apple trees do you have? Pruning apple trees – do a Google for it, I think some of the pruning ways are different for fruit trees compared to other woody shrubs.

      • Amanda says

        at

        I’m going to have to see what I can do about some squirrel fur moccasins, although I bet rabbit would be softer. Not that I’ve ever touched a squirrel.

        As for the trees, I don’t know what kind they are. I’ll have to find out, but there are tons of apples and they seem to be doing fine without my interference!

        • Annie says

          at

          Hi Amanda, I think you are right, rabbit would be softer. Squirrel would be nice though. About your apple trees, are the fruit “normal” size or small. I wonder if you have a crabapple tree, they are sour and have small fruit. Fantastic for making crabapple jelly, yummy

Connect With Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Search this site

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages

Our Most Popular Posts

Make your own natural herbal livestock dewormer. Easy and it works. #chickens #livestock #herbal

How To Make a Natural Herbal Dewormer

How I Shop for Groceries – I Don’t Go to Town!

Privacy Policy

Read about our Privacy Policy

Disclosure

Please note that some of this site’s links are affiliate links, and CountryLivinginaCaribooValley.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. At NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU, I will earn a small commission, if you purchase them. I recommend them as they are good products.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2021