How to Prune Outdoor Evergreens Without Spoiling Them
Deciduous trees attract all the attention most of the year. To their credit, however, they put on a real show: bloom in the spring, give shade in the summer, and then pull out all the feet for their final number – their leaves change color and then fall off the branches.
And evergreen trees are nature’s workhorse. They manage to maintain their green shade all year round – even when all other trees are bare for the winter. Your evergreen trees are made for you, so it’s time to get close to them (and by that we mean they look good). In an article for Better Homes & Gardens, Megan Hughes shares some tips for pruning evergreen trees to keep them in top shape all year long. Here’s what you need to know.
With old branches
First, get rid of dead, broken, or diseased branches or foliage, Hughes said , noting that it can be done at any time of the year:
Remove offensive branches as soon as you notice them by pruning to healthy, lively growth or to the main stem. Try to make cuts to give the plant the most natural shape possible. This often means trimming the branch to the trunk or ground level for the bush.
Time to trim
According to Hughes, the best time of the year to prune evergreens is late winter or early spring (but remember, dead or broken branches can be taken care of any time of the year). The most common reason why healthy evergreen branches need to be pruned is because they grow especially fast on a particular tree, she says. In this case, your goal is to prevent overgrowing of the tree, while preserving its natural shape as much as possible.
To do this, you need a sturdy pruner or lopper. Here’s Hughes to tell you the rest:
Selectively delete each branch back to the main branch from which it can grow, or to the trunk itself. For shrubs, you may need to prune the branch to ground level. Pruning annually to maintain the size of the evergreen is easier for the plant and you than doing large pruning projects every few years.
In his article, Hughes gives even more advice, including how to prune evergreen shrubs and hedges.