How to crop trees: in spring, summer and autumn

Fruit trees and shrubs need a certain care, including not only timely watering and feeding, but also proper pruning. Under pruning is a special agrotechnical procedure, involving the partial or complete removal of branches and elongated shoots. It is aimed at regulating the growth, development and fruiting of trees and shrubs. In this article, we will tell you in detail how to trim trees in the spring correctly and what tools need to be prepared for this. We hope, our advice will help you in the difficult matter of growing a garden.

Types of pruning trees

Depending on the goals, four types of pruning are distinguished: rejuvenating, shaping, regulating and restoring. Let's look at them in more detail. Rejuvenating pruning is designed to restore the growth of old fruit trees, stimulate the bookmark generative buds, increase fruiting and improve their decorative appearance. It is necessary to update the crowns of unkempt bushes and garden trees. Rejuvenation for the first time produced after the first two to three years of fruiting or with a decrease in flowering activity. At the same time shorten the old and too elongated branches and leave young and healthy shoots. Repeat the procedure after three years. Forming pruning accelerates the beginning of flowering, increases yield and gives trees and shrubs a well-groomed decorative appearance. It is produced in the first three to five years after planting a young plant and is designed to create a strong and well-lit crown, easy to care for.

Adjust and restore the decorative look of the crown

Regulating pruning is carried out to limit the volume and height of the crown. It improves the penetration of light rays and makes it possible to increase the fruiting of fruit trees. As a rule, it is carried out in industrial gardens. Restorative pruning is designed for running shrubs and trees that have not been given proper attention for a long time. It allows you to form a crown of normal size, normalize the number of shoots and improve lighting. Restorative pruning involves the removal of sick, broken and unusable branches. It is also important that it can be applied to podmerzshim and received any mechanical damage to fruit trees. Next, we will tell you how to trim trees, what you need to prepare for this and at what time of year it is best to carry out this important procedure.

Do we remove the branches in winter or spring?

Determining the appropriate time for this agrotechnical procedure is extremely important. It is worth remembering that any removal of shoots and branches is an operation after which the tree will heal wounds for a long time, and for this it needs the most favorable conditions. Therefore, the most appropriate time for pruning is March and April, that is, the period until the sap flow has begun. Some gardeners offer to remove the shoots of fruit trees, starting from January - February. Such a recommendation can be justified only for the southern regions of Russia, where winters are warm and short. For the middle band, including the middle Volga, this proposal does not work - there is a great risk that the trees will suffer from frost in the places of cuts. But to postpone the procedure of removing unnecessary branches until summer is not desirable. When to cut fruit trees? It is advisable to do this in early spring, so that they are strong and develop well. Usually in the first half of April, the trees "wake up" - that is, sap flow and active growth of the kidneys begins. Late pruning of the upper branches with the removal of large apical buds can lead to a decrease in yield. Yes, the trees will not cease to vegetate, but the remaining dormant, weaker buds will grow worse, shoots will be frail, and flowering - later.

Is it possible to trim the trees in summer and autumn?

In some cases, a later pruning is undertaken. In summer, it is allowed to cut too thick a crown. By July, the spring shoots are growing enough to allow an objective conclusion about the excessive number of branches. If necessary, they can be thinned, opening access to the sun's rays in the middle of the crown. It is important to remove powerful vertical shoots and twigs that do not bear fruit. Can I cut trees in the fall? Yes, it is possible, but it is necessary to choose the right moment after the end of harvesting and before the first frost. Autumn pruning is expedient in the south of the country, where there are no severe frosts. In the central zone of Russia, it can lead to the freezing of the cortex at the site of the cut and to the subsequent death of the tree. In autumn it is necessary to remove broken, shrunken, growing at right angles or up branches. Remember that cut off sick shoots must be removed from the site and burned. Now you know whether it is possible to cut trees in summer and in autumn. Next, we will talk about what garden tools you will need and how to implement this agrotechnical procedure correctly.

Preparing tools for work

How to cut trees and shrubs? First you need to prepare the tools. You need a sharp garden knife (to cut the branches of trees thin and small) and secateurs (for shoots thicker). You may also need a hand hacksaw to remove the thin barrels and a saw - for large ones. If you plan to cut prickly branches of bushes, you need to prepare a delimb with long handles. All the prepared tools must be put in order - to clean the blades, sharpen and disinfect. In addition, you will need a chisel, a stepladder and a metal brush to clean the slices. And, of course, do not forget about the means to cover fresh wounds. We advise you to use garden var, natural linseed oil or oil paint.

How to properly cut trees young?

So, choosing the right time and armed with the necessary garden tools, get to work. First remove dry, broken, sick, damaged by pests and frail branches. Then remove the root shoots, which hinder the care of the soil under the tree. Having carried out the standard procedure, which is suitable for all trees without exception, one can proceed to direct pruning, which has its own specific features for trees of different ages. Young specimens, basically, require shortening of shoots. In the period of active fruiting, thinning will be required, and during the aging period, a considerable number of branches will be removed and shoots shortened. How to cut trees young? First, select several powerful skeletal branches (3-5 pieces). It is desirable that they move away from the trunk at an obtuse angle and are at a sufficiently distant distance from each other. Selected branches are shortened slightly, in order to allow the formation of lateral branches. In this case, the rule is followed: the lower shoots are cut to a shorter length, the upper shoots cut to a larger length. The remaining branches are shortened by 10-15 cm. The main vertical shoot is cut at 35-40 cm above the uppermost shortened skeletal branch.

Tell you how to care for the crown of actively fruit bearing trees

As a rule, caring for them, in addition to watering and top dressing, is reduced to thinning the crown in places of weaving branches or strong thickening. How to cut trees in the spring? The overgrown crown should be thinned out gradually, within two to three years. So the tree is less damaged and suffers. It is necessary to remove those shoots that are intertwined and grow inside the crown. Small branches are removed with a knife or secateurs, thick branches with a saw. The basic rule of pruning a large branch is this: it must be removed in three approaches, without leaving the hemp, that is, "on the ring." A ring is the boundary between a bough and a trunk or between a large and a small branch. The following figure shows how to do this correctly.

Actively fruiting trees also need to shorten branches to resume their growth processes.

Trimming old or neglected trees. Slice processing

Old and neglected trees need more serious care. They can not be severely pruned and try to break the crown in one season. Old trees need to greatly shorten shoots. This will rejuvenate the plant and start growth mechanisms. The crown is thinned out as follows. Choose one or two strong skeletal branches that have a large number of small twigs, and remove them. The next spring, choose one or two large branches and again produce their removal. Rejuvenated crown requires care - should remove unnecessary shoots and direct in the right direction growing branches. An important aspect of pruning branches is the treatment of wounds. Sections made with saws, as a rule, have roughness and roughness. To prevent decay of wood, the surface is peeled and smoothed with a brush for metal or a knife. After that, the wounds are covered with garden wax, oil paint or natural linseed oil. In this case, it is important to cover the places of slices with an even and thin layer. Small wounds (less than 1 cm in diameter) should not be covered with garden varnish.

Instead of concluding

If you know the technology of shortening the shoots of fruit trees and ornamental shrubs, it will not be difficult for you to answer the question of how to trim a money tree.

As in the case of garden plants, you will need to prepare a knife or pruner. First, you should inspect the plant and imagine its desired shape mentally. Then you need to carefully trim the lateral branches and upper shoots. Gradually, you form the crown, giving it a beautiful spherical shape. It should be remembered that the places of cuts should be located above the sleeping kidney. This will help stimulate the growth of the succulent. Slicers of decorative money tree need to be processed, but not with garden fumes, but with crushed activated carbon.