Pruning Trees

It's that time of year! The sun comes out and teases us that spring is on it's way, even though the world is still white and cold. From my years working in the gardens, that combination whispers "Pruning!"

I am no pruning expert, but I do follow a few basics that guide me through most trees successfully.

1. Cut out any dead or diseased branches so the tree can heal over, also preventing further pest/disease problems.

2. Remove branches that are crossing or growing into the tree. I tend to be conservative on this so as not to cut out too much wood. If you can tell that a branch will only ever grow into the canopy and cause trouble, or that branches are already crossing and rubbing, exposing and weakening the bark, remove them.

3. Remove suckers (from the base of the tree) and water sprouts, which are young (you can tell new growth by the color difference) and tend to grow much faster than the other branches. This may be a difficult thing to identify, but some ornamental fruit trees--pears in particular--tend to have tons of water sprouts that take over the tree. They need to be nipped back to a lower, outer bud to keep the canopy open and re-direct growth.  

My young ornamental pear trees haven't water spouted too much, but they did have some crossing and erratic branches that needed guidance.  The idea is to direct all growth of the buds up and out, to keep the trunk open to light and air.

I don't know how well this illustrates, but the second picture is taken after I removed some crossing branches and nipped back a water spout on the left.

My trees are still very young and don't require much attention, but all trees should be examined at least once a year for problems. As mentioned before, pruning is typically done in the winter or early spring before buds swell, as soon as you can get to them with ladder and tools.

I have yet to attack my fruit trees, which are a whole different ball game, and with which I am still unfamiliar! All I know is that pear trees have to be shaped very differently than apple trees! For this information, and basically anything else I don't know, I like to turn to my state extension service website, which is through Utah State. Here are some great guides they put out with lots more detail and information:

Pruning the Orchard: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/HG_363.pdf

Pruning Landscape Trees: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/NR_FF_004.pdf