You may think there's only one good time to prune, but that's not true! Almost every season has a pruning task. Next we are going to talk about when to prune: the pruning calendar of your garden.
Pruning is the art of removing parts of a plant to improve the structure, health, and appearance of the plant. It is a vital part of keeping your garden in good condition.
LATE WINTER
Late winter (or dormant) pruning It is performed when the tree or shrub is still dormant, which means that its leaves have not branched. Once it starts to come out, the plant “Break latency”, taking off in a burst of growth as it releases the food it made from photosynthesis and stored the previous summer.
Pruning in late winter encourages branching and stimulates growth. So if we're trying to establish the structure of a sapling, dormant pruning is the best way to go. In addition, without leaves on the plant, we can see well the structure we are trying to mold.
Dormant pruning is the norm for young deciduous trees, for fruit trees (especially when young) and wisteria. Evergreens can be pruned as long as their wood is not frozen.
spring
In spring, we prune the bushes that bloom in summer. Most plants that bloom in summer bloom in new wood, which translates into the growth of the current season. So, even if we cut branches, we will not reduce the number of flowers for this season.
If you wonder when to prune the bushes, it would be advisable in early spring as it allows you to cut dead wood and stimulate growth.. Some summer bloomers respond best to selective pruning, while some do best when cut completely to the ground each spring.
Lilacs, viburnums and many other spring flowers will bloom next spring on the buds they create this summer. If we could prune in late summer, we'd be eliminating some of next year's blooms. Instead We prune the bushes that bloom in spring immediately after they finish flowering.
Summer pruning is mainly used to control plant size. In summer, trees store food for the following year, so there is generally less food available to promote growth. As a result, summer pruning does not drive the same rapid growth as late winter pruning.
Summer is the best time to reduce the size of large trees, open the treetops, and get back under control of rampant growth (especially in plants like wisteria). Late summer is also a good time to shear evergreen hedges, as their vegetative growth slows down later in the summer.
Some fruit growers rely entirely on summer pruning to control the size of their fruit trees.
AUTUMN
We continue to prune bushes until early autumn. But we stopped pruning at the end of September, because we don't want to encourage new growth that doesn't harden before freezing weather.
WINTER HOLIDAYS
In early and mid-winter, we give our mowers a break. Plant tissue is more susceptible to damage in freezing temperatures, and cuts make it even more likely to be damaged. So we only do emergency pruning (removal of dead or damaged wood) in winter.
We hope that with this post you know when to prune and so you can create your own pruning calendar.
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