Pruning of Ornamental Trees and Shrubs
Pruning of these specimen plants is aimed at keeping the plants healthy and vigorous in order to maintain or improve the beauty of flower and foliage. Annual or occasional cutting also restricts their size.
Little pruning is required for evergreen trees and shrubs. Old and leggy shoots that spoil the plants appearance should be removed in spring before growth starts. Most flowering heathers should failed flower heads and stems removed. Shoots may be shortened at the same time.
Deciduous trees and shrubs do not all require annual pruning but those that do are devided into two groups:
- Shrubs which flower on previous seasons wood.
- Shrubs which which bear their flowers on shoots made in the current year.
Before determining the correct time of pruning, it is essential to establish the growing and flowering habit of the tree or shrub. Shrubs in the first of these 2 groups generally flower at the same time as extension growth is being made and pruning should be delayed until after flowering. Many of the ornamental shrubs in this group tend to produce numerous twiggy growths unless old wood is regularly pruned.
Shrubs which flower on shoots of the current year such as buddlera davidii and spirea japonica may be cut hard back in early spring before growth begins. Established plants should have the previous seasons shoots pruned back to within a few buds of the base.
Young shrubs whether evergreen or deciduous seldom require pruning.
