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Creating a Wild Backyard - Shrub and Tree Pruning

 Pruning a tree or shrub may seem complex, difficult, and a little scary – cutting off tree limbs would seem to injure rather than benefit the tree. However, certain trees and shrubs will be healthier after a good pruning. Pruning also enables a plant to produce more leaves, nuts, fruits, or flowers which, in turn, can provide wildlife with more food and shelter. Pruning doesn’t have to be a complicated process and is something you can do once you know what, how, and when to prune.

Fear of pruning probably comes from bits of information communicated by gardening shows or magazines which describe involved process of pruning special plants like bonsai or dwarf fruit trees or vines and shrubs grown on a trellis. However, the kind of pruning described here is simple maintenance of common plants, able to withstand even some of the most severe pruning. Ideally, pruning should leave the plant attractive in appearance and still vigorously growing.

Why Plants Need to be Pruned
Pruning is most often used to improve the structure, form and growth of trees and shrubs. Proper pruning encourages bushier growth in some plants and improves fruit, flower, or seed production in others. These results make trees and shrubs more valuable as cover and food plants for wildlife. Even evergreen trees can be pruned, but remember that they grow slowly and can’t be cut back as severely as some other shrubs. There are also many trees and shrubs that grow quite well without any pruning.

When Should I Prune?
For the purposes of pruning for the benefit of wildlife, trees and shrubs can be divided into those which produce flowers only and those which produce flowers and fruits. Trees and shrubs which produce flowers only include forsythia, lilac, and butterfly bush. These can and should be pruned after they are finished flowering. A minimum amount of pruning is needed if the shrubs are pruned each year. For shrubs which have been allowed to grow “wild” so that the woody stems are much more apparent than the leaves or flowers, a more severe pruning can be done.

Shrubs that flower and produce berries can also be pruned after flowering, but should only be pruned lightly with care taken not to remove all of the stems which may bear fruits. However, shrubs that produce berries fair better if they are pruned during their dormant time. This is usually either in late winter or early spring.

The colder months are also the best times to prune because diseases which might affect the shrub after pruning are less active. However, you will need to investigate the growing cycle of your shrub species to pinpoint the best time to prune them. For any shrub, it is best to prune when it is neither flowering nor producing fruits.

What To Prune

1. Dead or diseased branches.
   (Fungal growth, lack of leaves or dead leaves on one branch are clues.)

2. Broken or extremely damaged branches.

3. Branches that are pointing downwards, at odd unnatural angles or aiming into the interior of the tree.

4. Branches that are rubbing or interfering with one another.

5. Sprouts growing from the base of the tree or roots.

6. The weaker of two forks in the top. Pruning will prevent weak crotches from developing which are prone to splitting later.

7. Prune older shrubs that have lots of branches and few leaves.

8. Prune hedges and trees used as screens and windbreaks to increase the thickness of growth.

9. Prune limbs of trees that interfere with windows, utility lines, and walkways.

10. Prune fruit trees like apple, cherry, and peach trees to maximize fruit production.

How to Prune Branches ¾ of an Inch or More in Diameter

1. Make the first cut about 4 inches away from the parent branch.

2. Only cut in about 1/3 of the branch diameter and make your cut on the underside of the branch you wish to remove.

3. The second cut should be made on the upper side of the branch about ½ inch further out from the first cut. The branch should break off, forming a 4” long stump.

4. Locate the branch bark ridge (BBR) and the branch collar. (See diagram)

5. Locate target A – outside BBR and target B where branch meets collar.

6. Cut downward from point A to point B, making slow steady strokes with a pruning saw. Avoid tearing the bark around the cut.

Pruning Tips

• Make cuts with clean, sharp tools.

• Do not cut a branch in the middle; make cuts back to a bud, branch, or main trunk.

• Disinfect pruning tools after pruning diseased branches by spraying or dipping the tools in a dilute solution of Clorox. Diseases can spread from tree to tree.

• Do not paint the cut after pruning.

• Do not remove more than 25% of the leaf surface of the plant in any one year.

• Prune a dead branch back to the collar.

• Do not cut into a living tree collar.

• Do not make cuts flush with the trunk or parent branch.
  

For Additional Information, Contact:
 
 Wild Acres Program
 Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service
 Attn:  Marilyn Mause
 Gwynnbrook WMA
 3740 Gwynnbrook Ave
 Owings Mills MD 21117
 410-356-0941
 E-Mail: customerservice@dnr.state.md.us