Proper planning produces perfect prune!
So if you follow my 5 'Ps' and don't make the following mistakes you'll have beautiful trees, shrubs and bushes
1. You only remove the tips of the plant every time you prune and not considered the variety of plant.
2. Cutting long branches off conifers (especially leylandii) green growth does not grow back.
3. You don’t consider the shape of the tree or bush you’re trying to achieve. There is no short cut (no pun intended) you need to make sure you have considered each cut. The plant needs to have an open shape which allows air to circulate.
4. Cutting more than 30% of a fruit tree, the plant will put its energy into shoots not fruit. Just hacking off branches is not pruning. Removing the principal leader branch can shock the plant so only do this when absolutely necessary and know the risk.
5. Not cutting out dead wood or where branches are crossing/touching other branches as both these can cause disease such as canker an airborne bacterium. This goes for roses too where there is dies back caused by several reasons including the above, frost damage or a previous prune.
6. There are some plants that need to be pruned in Spring – Cherry and pear are prone to disease if cut in winter, spring flowering plants should be pruned immediately after flowering.
7. Not pruning above the node, especially Hydrangea, Rhododendron, and certain other flowering shrubs.
8. Not considering the direction of growth. In the Northern hemisphere in many gardens with light restricted by other trees, houses, fences; trees will grow to the south. If pruning allows too much growth, then the tree is prone to lose its balance and you can lose the whole tree.
9. Not cutting the tree with clean sharp tools. You don’t want to allow contamination and poor cuts can allow bacteria to settle. If the plant is vertical, an angular cut prevents water pooling on the surface of the cut.
10. The big one - You decide not to prune.
The Science bit
The science behind this is pretty easy to grasp. You may remember apical dominance from your biology lessons. The apical bud, the bud that produces new growth, typically located at the tip of a branch; also known as the dominant or terminal bud.
The apical bud produces the growth hormone auxin which stimulates new growth but importantly is an inhibitor to growth of lower/lateral buds. A latent bud, any bud-typically below the apical bud-that remains dormant or underdeveloped for a long time but may eventually grow but once the tip has been removed these will grow until one becomes dominant and the process starts again. The principal branch is the leader and any branch that grows from that is a lateral branch. Usually this is clear by site as a result of the diameter of each.
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