How to Do Basic Dormant-Season Pruning

Deciduous trees and shrubs shed their leaves and go dormant over the winter. This is the perfect time to prune them without fear of shocking them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Garden Shears
• Loppers
• Pole Pruners
• Steel Rake
• Pruning Saws

1. Remove any growth that comes from below the graft (where the top of the plant was originally joined to rootstock). Cut the growth as close to the main body of the plant as possible.
2. Look for and remove any dead, diseased or injured wood. Branches that are different in color from the main body of the plant are suspect. Injuries may look like splits or blisters. Diseases may show up as black patches along the branch.
3. Cut into the tip of a suspect branch to make sure that it is dead. If it is green on the inside, it is still alive. If the branch is brown on the inside, it is probably dead. Keep cutting back from the tip until you reach green wood.
4. Remove any branches that cross through the center of the plant; this will improve air circulation and discourage fungus disease.
5. Cut out any competing leaders - the upright growing limbs that will eventually turn into the main trunk. Most trees should have only one main branch headed in the 'up' direction; multiple trunks sap the energy from a tree and weaken it over time.
6. Prune for shape and size. In the case of fruit trees, keep the branches low so that you can reach the fruit. Most maples look best with a rounded crown, and most roses should be pruned in a low vase shape. Know the basic shape of the plant you are working on.
7. Remove any water sprouts from fruit trees. Nonproductive water sprouts are light in color and grow straight up, as opposed to fruiting wood, which is crooked and dark.
8. Rake up and remove all prunings and fallen leaves. Insects overwinter in fallen plant debris.

Tips & Warnings

• Sharpen and oil your pruning tools before you start cutting.
• Spray with a dormant oil or lime/sulfur after you have finished pruning to kill overwintering insect pests.
• Tools you will need are garden shears, lopping shears, a pruning saw and a pole pruner.
• Once the plants begin to grow leaves, sap is flowing through the branches. If you prune then, you take the chance of causing excessive bleeding or loss of vital fluids.

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