Fall Pruning Tips

If your tree or shrub is looking a little unsightly, fall is a great time to prune and get it back into shape. Once they have lost their leaves you can see their limb structure more clearly. Before you start here’s some seasonal pruning tips:

Fall is a great time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs. The leaves have fallen and you are able to find dead or unsightly branches and remove them before our windy weather does it for you. Pruning unwanted branches causes the plant to send all of its energy into developing other areas of the plant that you want to grow. Plus, you don’t have to worry about cutting off any blooms since you didn’t want the branch anyway.

Before you prune, clean and sharpen your tools. You should clean your pruners between pruning plants to help prevent the spread of diseases between plants. This can be done simply by wiping the blade with a clean rag and alcohol. If you have lots plants to prune you may want to use single use alcohol wipes, usually found at your local pharmacy. You can put a few in your pocket ready to wipe between cuts. 

Begin by removing branches that cross over the center of the plant or branches that rub up again other branches.   Remove suckers. Suckers are new growths that can appear at the base of the plant or on more established branches. If you can, snap or break off the sucker from the branch. When you prune off a sucker, it gets the impression that you are pruning it for re-growth and will re-grow.  

Remove dead and diseased branches. If you have a hard time spotting dead branches when everything is bare, lightly scratch them to see if they are green.   Some trees, such as maples and birches, have sap that bleeds heavily in the spring, so pruning them in the fall is both healthier for the tree and cleaner for you and your tools.

Heavy infestations of diseases or insects, like oystershell scale, can be diminished by pruning. Scale often is heaviest on the older canes, so by removing them in the fall or winter, you go a long way in controlling scale buildup the following season. By pruning, you may reduce the need to apply pesticides, and you'll be thinning the shrub to allow for more light and air penetration. The result will be a healthier plant.

When you prune make sure you cut at slight, but not dramatic, angle, and do not cut flush to the truck or branch. 

Now you can begin pruning for a healthier, more ascetic specimen.