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I don’t know about you, but our trees always seem to need trimming. The Bradford Pears along the drive are now about 13 years old and the bottom limbs are wide and treacherous for wide delivery trucks, the weeping cherry trees I planted in the wrong place 10 years ago constantly need pruning and the list goes on and on. Recently we had the worst ice storm in years and many trees sustained tremendous limb breakage.
Step 1 When you decide you want to prune your trees do it for the correct reasons such as diseased limbs, broken limbs, a tree or shrub that has grown up against a structure, an insect infected area, limbs that are growing into your power lines, limbs that are rubbing against each other or a shrub or bush that is now blocking the line of vision on a street or driveway.
Step 2: Make sure you know the right time to trim a specific shrub or tree. Hardwood trees should be trimmed when they are dormant as that will minimize the sap flow from the wounds. Early spring blooming ornamental shrubs such as forsythia should be pruned immediately after flowering and you will have lots of buds the following years forming on the new growth. If you have flowering trees or shrubs that bloom in the fall then the best time to prune these is when they are dormant since their flowers will grow on the twigs that develop in the next season.
Step 3: When you make your cut use a sharp lopper or saw which you have cleaned with a good household disinfectant cleaner and cut about two inches outside the branch bark ridge. Never cut at the branch bark line or the branch collar which you can determine if you use an imaginary vertical line along side your tree. If your branch is long and big, then you may have to make two cuts, one out about half way down the branch and then the second one no closer than 2 inches to the branch bark ridge or you will cause the tree to create its “scab” which is called woundwood to grow on the sides of the tree instead of out on the cut. A tree that has created woundwood on its trunk due to a pruning cut to close to the branch bark ridge or branch collar will be more susceptible to infection and insects.
Step 4: When you want to prune a tree, bush or shrub to allow more light to enter never prune more than 25% of the branches or the tree will develop clusters of shoots called epicormic sprouts that help the tree compensate for the loss of the leaves it needs for photosynthesis. Never cut off the top of a tree as it can starve your tree to death or cause sunburn tissues that will result in decay.
Things needed: long handled tree lopper, a ladder, small hand pruner, a sharp saw, chain saw, household disinfectant cleaner, wheel barrow or tarp to help with cleanup.
Tips and Warning: For large trees more than 20 feet tall it is best to contact a professional tree cutter or an arborist. For limbs near telephone or power lines it is best to contact your telephone or electric company. For limbs that have come down in an ice storm and are a road hazard it may be wise to contact your local highway department. Never stand on a ladder without someone holding it steady. If you are going to use a chain saw make sure you know how to use it. Never try using it up on a ladder without someone assisting you and never try to do a two person pruning job by yourself. Throw your branches as you go into your wheelbarrow to help with fast cleanup or throw on a tarp so you can drag them to where you want to dispose of them.
“Tread the Earth Lightly” and in the meantime… May your day be filled with…
Peace, Light and Love,
Arlene Wright-Correll
Avalon Stained Glass School & Creativity Center, Resident Artist
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Many of her paintings are sold internationally and many of her works of art have been reproduced on note cards, post cards and other functional items and you can get Giclee prints of her artwork starting as low as $11.89 Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books, art, etc. go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my sites.”
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