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GUIDE TO PRUNING EVERGREENS
Essential tips for winter pruning.
Pruning is about more than just looks; proper techniques improve the health of trees and prevent disease. Pruning also helps control the shape, keeps trees fresh and open, and allows for better air circulation. Unkept trees can pose safety risks to people and property from falling branches.
Remove dead, dying, broken, or severely diseased branches as well as any suckers, competing, or downward-bending branches as you discover them, no matter the time of year. When pruning diseased branches, wipe the pruning blade with rubbing alcohol between cuts to avoid spreading the disease. Also, as soon as you discover them, cut any remaining stubs as these prevent the tree's ability to heal the wound and allow insects to enter and do their damage.
Call in a professional tree service to handle the removal of large dead or dangling branches, especially near your home or other structures, and to trim branches that are very high or close to power lines.
After pruning is an ideal time to mulch. Apply a 2 – 3 inch thick layer of organic mulch around the base of your trees, keeping it 3 – 4 inches away from the trunk. Miracle-Gro Organic™ All Natural Mulch is a good choice.
Timing
Most evergreens should be pruned in winter, before new growth begins in the Spring. You can, of course, take clippings for holiday wreaths and garlands in December!
Click the link below for more detailed instructions on when and how you should prune your evergreens.
Tree-Pruning Tools
Clean cuts are the key to successful pruning, so you'll want to make sure you have the right tool for each type of cut.
Top to bottom: 1. pole saw, 2. hand pruners (secateurs), 3. loppers, 4. folding hand saw, 5. pole pruner
- Secateurs or hand pruners are effective for small twigs and branches.
- Loppers provide more leverage for branches 1½ inches or less in diameter.
- A pruning saw cuts large, woody limbs 6 inches or less in diameter.
- A chainsaw makes quick work of limbs greater than 3 inches in diameter but shouldn't be used on small limbs because of its shredding effect.
- A high-quality pole pruner, which includes a saw and a lopping shear on an extendable shaft, is helpful for cutting branches several feet off the ground.
Safety Note: Always wear safety goggles and gardening gloves when pruning trees and a hard hat when cutting overhead branches.
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