#13 Winter Pruning of Trees and Shrubs
The madman has been going crazy lately – it is almost March, the Persephone Period is over and he is itching to get outside to continue his pruning tasks. I have to keep reminding him that yes, the Persephone Period is over, but here in Connecticut the shrubs and small trees are still thinking of coming out of dormancy. Yes, the buds on the oaks and maples are starting to swell, but it is still winter. Nothing has popped except for some skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) in the back and a couple of snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) on the side.
Snowdrops 
Skunk Cabbage
Life Before Pruning
We have already taken our walk around. We went past the spot where two nice old apple trees used to grow. They were big forty years ago when we moved into here. Back then we knew nothing about maintaining fruit trees, and unfortunately neither did the previous owner. Spring was a profusion of beautiful apple blossoms – we even picked large bouquets for a crock in the fireplace. Alas, a nasty rain storm with howling winds pulled one out of the ground one summer. The other tree followed suit in the fall. I think that the demise of these trees fuels his desire to prune and at the same time feeds his fear of doing it wrong.
The Thinking Behind the Pruning
Our walk around gave us our list of targets, but why do we do this? We prune for a variety of reasons, but the key reason is to keep the plant, whether it be tree or shrub, healthy. We remove all dead, damaged and diseased branches. Removing dead and diseased branches is a no-brainer. The damaged ones are an avenue for insects and diseases to enter the plant so they have to go. Remember, a healthy plant is a happy plant.
We also prune to improve flowering and fruiting. The more available sunlight, the better the product. So the next branches we prune are those growing into the center of the plant and water sprouts, those are the ones growing straight up. The water sprouts disrupt air circulation, block sun and take energy from flower and fruit production. Any suckers growing from the ground on grafted fruit trees are removed.
And, finally we prune for aesthetics. We want to enjoy looking at the trees and shrubs in our garden. As we started our gardening adventures, we planted lots of things, but never truly considered maintaining what we planted. Because of this a lot of things fell by the wayside.
Know Your Plants
Pruning on the Forsythia will leave the arching branches that are natural feature of the plant. 
New growth on the Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) is red so pruning will remove all gray branches and stems.
As we grew in the garden we learned that since all plants are somewhat different, they all need pruning-some at different times than others. Spring flowering shrubs like Syringa (commonly known as lilacs) or Forsythia bloom on last year’s growth so they are pruned as soon as they flower. Early pruning removes the flower buds, as the madman learned early in his pruning career. Anytime you add a shrub, vine or tree to your landscape remember to write it in your gardening journal; that way you will always be able to reference the correct pruning time – don’t trust your memory! Also, remember that pruning is intended to add to the plants’ natural growth, not to compensate for a gardener’s mistake. (Right plant, right place, remember Mr. Madman?)
A Pruning Lesson
The madman’s grapes needed some help – who better to turn to than the owner of a vineyard?
But, here we are at the end of February and it’s time continue work on what used to be a daunting task. The madman has already pruned the grapes because they couldn’t wait. Grapes are pruned early while they are dormant to prevent the spread of disease. He invited himself to Steve Kinosh’s Cherry Brook Vineyard (you can find them on Facebook) in North Canton to get a lesson in the fine art of pruning grapevines. (Thank you, Steve). After spending a morning learning and pruning with Steve, the madman came home and said, “We’ve been doing it all wrong.” After a couple of days with pruner in hand he felt he had it fixed. Since you probably don’t have access to Steve, the UConn Home and Garden Center has an excellent fact sheet on pruning grapes. Check it out.
Let’s Get Out the Tools
We don’t grow stone fruits (peaches and plums) because Connecticut is home to some fine orchards that do a real good job-that’s the madman’s fancy way of saying that he has lost one too many trees to the peach tree borer (Synanthedon exitiosa). On to the apples and pears. These can be pruned at any time now. The madman’s weapons of choice are the Felco 8, the by-pass lopper and a pruning saw – we know they are clean and sharp because we addressed that topic in our Jan. 24 post.
Since life got in the way, it has been a couple of years since we pruned our fruit trees. They should really be moderately pruned every year, but like most home gardeners, we do what we can. And, this is the year for some serious pruning. Since the madman doesn’t believe in reinventing the wheel, we are going to refer you to UConn for a blow-by-blow YouTube presentation of pruning. UConn Extension Associate Educator Mary Concklin does an excellent job on this topic.
Keeping the Pear Trees Going
When we moved into our house, there were three pear trees, one much larger than the other two. Over time, the madman has been trying to rejuvenate the larger one near the house by slowly reducing its height. A general rule of thumb is to reduce the size by no more than 1/3 per year. When doing this, he has been careful to remove all water sprouts each pruning season. The last couple of years he has actually gotten blossoms and pears. Pruning techniques are pretty much the same as those used on apple trees. On the two smaller trees, he just removes the water sprouts, any deadwood and any crossing branches.
Love Those Brambles
Our raspberry patches are currently under the cover of snow, much to the dismay of the madman. First step in pruning these is to remove all dead canes to the crown – we need to be able to see the crown to do this, so we will have to wait for the snow to melt. Madman takes his berries more seriously than his fruit trees.
We have a trellis system based on specs from Iowa State University. The trellis keeps the brambles off the ground and easy to maintain. But, more importantly, they are easy to harvest. Again, we aren’t going to reinvent the wheel so, follow the link to download the PDF-it includes information on planting and pruning different brambles (we have thornless blackberries and everbearing raspberries). In the meantime, I will just watch him pace until the snow melts and he can get out there.
On to the Ornamentals
We treat the rest of the trees and shrubs on our property as ornamentals. This means that the madman cares how they look, not how they produce. We will start by looking at each individual plant to decide what we want it to look like – without leaves we have the basic structure so we will know what to take out and what to leave in.
The madman does not do any pruning of large trees. He feels that is the realm of an arborist, besides he does not like to climb trees or go up tall ladders. Good thing he knows his limits. That being said, we do our best to keep trees and shrubs manageable.
Pruning to Help the Plant
With all our pruning we are looking to improve light to the center of the plant and encourage the growth of side shoots by cutting back growing tips. The madman uses a couple of basic pruning cuts. The Felco 8s are his favored tool. The first thing to remember is that you do not want any of your cuts to hurt the plant – that will invite disease and pests to enter at the point of the damage.
When pruning, you can thin or shear. Since we do not have any formal hedges, we do not do use shearing cuts. Shearing is just what the name implies, cutting all growth in an even path, as in maintaining a formal hedge or topiary. The madman doesn’t favor gumdrop trees. On the other hand, we do have to thin our trees and shrubs.
Removing a Big Branch
The branch collar on this White Pine (Pinus strobus) is easily seen.
When the madman removes a branch, he makes the cut just outside the branch collar to promote quicker healing. The branch collar is the slightly swollen area where a branch meets a limb or the main trunk. If the branch is too thick for a clean cut, the madman uses a three-step process: 1. First cut is on the underside about 12” from the trunk-an upward cut about a third through the branch; 2. Second cut is on the top, about 15” from the trunk; and 3. The final cut is made at the branch collar without risk of damage to the bark.
Sometimes he doesn’t want to remove the entire branch. In this case, he will make a 45˚ cut 1/2” above an outward facing bud. This type of cut gives the widest area for healing. Remember, when he started, the madman did not like to prune any growth; it took many years for him to realize that it was best for the plant. Now he happily cuts away saying, “It’s for the best.”
Good old Connecticut weather has decided to send us more snow. We’ll put the pruning on hold again. Thank goodness the cocoa is hot.
