A Super-Complete Guide to Plant Pruning Techniques: You Have to Know How to Prune to Grow Flowers Well

Pruning is an indispensable and important part of plant care. Mastering the correct pruning methods can help you cultivate beautiful tree shapes!

Through pruning, you can further regulate the distribution of plant nutrients, suppress excessive vegetative growth, and promote flower bud differentiation, achieving the effect of young trees flowering and fruiting earlier, and it can also extend the flowering and fruiting periods. It is fair to say the benefits are many.Today I will introduce plant pruning methods to everyone, so remember them well!

1. Dormant-season pruning

Deciduous trees are mostly pruned during this period. Evergreen trees do not have an obvious dormant period, and winter pruning will have adverse effects on the tree body, so pruning is usually carried out in late spring after the severe cold season has passed.

2. Growing-season pruning

Also called summer pruning, the pruning time should not be too late, otherwise it easily promotes the growth of secondary shoots and consumes nutrients, which is unfavorable for the growth of new shoots. At the same time, the pruning amount should be appropriate; excessive pruning will reduce nutrient accumulation and is unfavorable for plant growth.

3. Pruning of deciduous trees

1. Pay attention to maintaining the growth vigor of the terminal shoot:On the branch points, leave a first-level scaffold branch every 20-25 cm. On the scaffold branches, also maintain their apical growth advantage, and at certain intervals retain a second-level branch, and so on. Remove excessive vegetative branches, drooping branches, and so on;

2. Evergreen broadleaf trees:Keep the central main branch well, handle scaffold branches reasonably, and keep the branches evenly distributed;

3. Evergreen conifers:When pruning, just pay attention to cultivating and balancing growth vigor. Under normal circumstances, no pruning is carried out, but be careful to avoid the formation of double trunks and double leaders.

4. Hedge pruning

Hedges generally have strong sprouting ability, strong branching ability, and are tolerant of pruning. Generally, formal pruning is the main method, keeping the shape neat and beautiful and avoiding hollowness inside and bareness at the lower part.

5. Pruning of vines

Generally, full shaping and pruning are rarely carried out. The main approach is to shorten side branches, cut off diseased and pest-damaged branches and dead branches, and appropriately thin out weak branches.

6. Pruning of spring-flowering plants

Taking redbud, crabapple, and white magnolia as examples,prune within 1-2 weeks after flowering to reduce nutrient consumptionand promote the growth of more side branches, increasing the amount of flowering the following year; during the winter dormant period, flower buds have basically formed, and flower buds and leaf buds can be clearly distinguished. You can appropriately thin out branches, remove thin and weak branches, diseased and dead branches, and sprouting branches. Branches without flower buds can be appropriately cut off.

7. Pruning of summer- and autumn-flowering plants

Taking pomegranate, rose of Sharon, hydrangea, and crape myrtle as examples, prune before flowering; during the dormant period, shorten the branches to encourage the growth of robust branches in spring.

8. Pruning of winter-flowering plants

Taking wintersweet, Bauhinia, and plum blossom as examples, after the winter and spring flowers fade, cut back the flowering branches in turn, leaving 3-5 nodes per branch, to promote axillary buds to sprout and form more new side branches. During the growing period, frequently thin out excessive vegetative branches, densely growing branches, overlapping branches, and so on.

9. Pruning of plants that flower multiple times a year

Taking rose and crape myrtle as examples, after winter begins, shorten all branches to promote the sprouting of strong branches. After the flowers fade, promptly cut off the remaining flowers, and during the growing period promptly remove sprouting buds to promote the formation of new flower buds.

10. General procedure for pruning

1. Observe:Observe the inherent growth habits of the pruning target and the specific site conditions, whether the distribution structure of the main and side branches of the tree is reasonable, whether the growth vigor between the main and side branches and the upper and lower parts of the crown is balanced, whether the relationship between vegetative growth and reproductive growth is coordinated, and so on. After comprehensive analysis, determine the corresponding pruning technical measures.

2. Remove:First saw off some perennial large branches, or even scaffold branches, that affect tree growth and development, damage the tree structure, disrupt the tree shape, or have suffered disease and pest damage, so that the tree basically meets the purpose and requirements of shaping and pruning.

3. Cut:On the basis that the structural form of the tree body basically meets the target requirements, carry out specific pruning of each main and side branch, following the principle of keeping strong ones and not keeping weak ones, and keeping outward-facing ones and not keeping inward-facing ones. Use techniques such as heading back and thinning branches to make the tree shaping more complete.

4. Check:After pruning is basically completed, carefully recheck the entire tree body, correct or supplement pruning where cuts were wrong or missed, and from the perspective of the group, check what influence adjacent trees have on each other and make adjustments.