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Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. CONSUMER HORTICULTURE HOW. Remove Undesirable Growth. Pruning can encourage plant vigor when you remove weak, overcrowded growth. Such thinning often improves the plant’s visual balance or symmetry. Remove Dead, Diseased, or Broken Branches. Pruning will help maintain the plant’s shape, vigor, and stumpmulching.bar Size: 1MB. 1. Clean Out: Remove branches which are dead, diseased, broken, crossing (rubbing on each other) or out of character with the rest of the tree.

2. Selectively Thin: Open up light and air circulation. Make the interior more transparent but not stripped clean. Balance the branch density around the tree. 3. Where severe pruning is necessary, spruce will recover from cuts back as far as two-year-old wood. Firs can be cut back as far as three- or four-year-old wood. However, if sited correctly, pines, spruce, fir and hemlock trees should require little or no pruning. Figure 11 Prune evergreen trees by removing half of new growth. Figure Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs; Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs.

This online course for landscape professionals and home gardeners covers pruning basics: how trees and shrubs grow, when and how to prune, and safety and tools. #OLC-G Be the first to leave a review. Most trees need pruning. Actually, mature trees seldom do. Young trees usually benefit because pruning helps in establishing the basic branch structure and in overcoming transplanting shock.

Hedge shears are all you need to prune shrubs. Hedge shears are intended to prune hedges, only! Using them on shrubs not intended as hedge plants destroysFile Size: KB. Mar 10, Pruning for plant health focuses on removing dead, dying and diseased branches, branches that rub together and any branch stubs so the entire tree continues to grow in a healthy way.

Opening up the canopy to let light and air filter throughout the entire tree allows for increased foliage while decreasing the risk of stumpmulching.barted Reading Time: 9 mins.