Trees, Shrubs and Plants You Need to Prune in Spring (and How to Do It Right)
Pruning is an important garden task. In addition, by simply keeping growth in check, proper pruning also keeps trees and shrubs healthy by ensuring that light and air can reach all branches. Pruning at the right time can also encourage more flowers to bloom, so this is a good craftsmanship if you want your yard to look its best.
What to prune in spring
Spring is one of the best times to prune your trees, shrubs and plants, but it’s not the best time for anything in the garden. It’s important to know which ones are which, but there’s also one exception to this rule: if you notice dead, diseased, or damaged branches, you can remove those at any time—the sooner the better.
Summer flowering bushes
Most shrubs that bloom in summer do so on new growth. This means you can prune whatever you want in the spring as new growth hasn’t started yet. Butterfly bush and Sharon’s roses fall into this category.
If you need a cut date, one rule of thumb is that “summer flowering” plants are those that bloom after June 15th .
Vines
Perennial vines like trumpet vine and ivy can be pruned in the spring as they flower on the shoots. You can prune your ivy at any time, but it’s easiest to trim it in the spring before the leaves appear.
evergreens
Evergreen trees and shrubs fall into two categories when it comes to pruning. Fir, spruce and branch pine are in whorl patterns, and generally don’t need a lot of pruning at all. If you need to prune them to slow their growth, spring or early summer is a good time to prune back new growth on each branch.
Another type is called random branching conifer, and they include arborvitae and juniper. Since they have buds all along their stems, you can cut them almost anywhere . In the spring, prunes individual branches back to where they emerge from the main branches. If you want to cut the whole plant to keep the size, save this job for the summer when the shrub has finished growing.
Fruit trees
Fruit trees flower in the spring, but they are the exception to this rule, as pruning is so important to maintaining a healthy tree. If you lose a few buds in the process, so be it.
In the spring, when the tree is still dormant, you will be able to see the structure of it well. A good fruit tree will have a central leader, branches at a strong angle so the heavy fruit doesn’t cause them to break, and will be short enough that you can reach most of the fruit. Fruit trees also need sunlight to reach most branches (because the sun is essential for ripening) and to provide good airflow, which helps prevent disease.
What not to prune in spring
As you do your spring pruning, it’s important not to prune certain plants. Any plants that you grow for their flowers, and that flower in the spring, should not be cut back until after they are done flowering. (This June 15 rule is useful here.)
Lilacs and forsythia, for example: if you prune them in the spring, you will be removing parts of the plants that become buds. Wait until after they bloom, then prune just the way you like.
How to cut
Always start by looking for dead, afflicted or damaged branches. They can be removed at any time and there are no decisions to be made; they must go.
Next, a view of the crossed branches. Choose a better or stronger branch, and delete the other one.
Water shoots and suckers should be removed next. (Water shoots grow from the trunk, suckers from the base of the tree.) These are thin, fast growing, upright shoots that are usually pruned because the tree uses energy to grow them, but they don’t contribute to the shape or fruit you’re trying to achieve.
If you are working on a tree that has large branches, use a two- or three-step cut to make sure the branch doesn’t tear off the healthy bark as it separates.
For small branches, you usually want to do a thinning cut that removes the small branch at the point where it came from the larger branch. They are effective at removing a branch without causing further growth. Opposite there will be a heading incision which may cause the growth of lateral branches or buds. You would do this if you want to encourage the plant to grow more bushy.
Finally, when you do a pruning cut, don’t seal anything on the wound to apply. This should help cut the heal, but it is more likely to encourage decay and disease than to prevent it. The plant can heal its wounds better than we can. But to be safe, it’s best to plan ahead so that you don’t need to make a big cut; you do that by pruning small branches more often, instead of letting the tree go for several years without any pruning.