We are at the end of January, spring is just around the corner and like every year around this time, pruning season arrives. That is why we wanted to create this publication where, in a somewhat basic way, we will explain to you from the importance of pruning, to the tools you need to carry it out, going through the most common types of pruning. Let’s go there!
Why is tree and plant pruning important?
The foundation of pruning is to establish a balance between the branches and the root system. In addition to this, it also has a number of benefits that must be taken into account:
- By pruning, you are taking care of the health of the crop: When you remove some branches and leaves, you are encouraging the plant to produce new shoots, from which new branches will be born that will grow with greater vitality and strength.
- Sun for everyone!: By pruning the treetops, we are allowing the sun to access the interior more directly, that increases the vitality of this area. In addition, we have to take into account that the sun’s rays are essential to control the presence of pests and insects.
- When we can, we are improving the production of the crop: By removing old, deteriorated, dry or damaged leaves and branches by pests, we are making the sap distribute more efficiently through healthy branches, so that it has a directly proportional relationship with the quality and quantity of fruits or flowers that this plant will produce.
- Goodbye to the bugs!: One of the best things we can achieve with pruning is to say goodbye to those undesirable pests that have been attacking us all year … To do this we simply have to cut the diseased branches, thus reducing the amount of insects, fungi, etc. , which are attacking the plant, decrease considerably, thus making the pest much more controllable and even eradicating it.
- We will control the size and shape of our plants: Something basic in a large number of plants, especially in hedges, is to give them the shape we want, so pruning is the fundamental tool to achieve this objective.
In conclusion: With proper pruning, we will not only be keeping our plants in perfect condition, but we will also be controlling their growth, shape and, if it is a fruit tree, its production.
What types of pruning are there?
Before we get down to work, we must be very clear about what we are looking for with this process and, above all, what our tree or plant really needs.
There are several types of pruning, but we can mainly highlight two, training pruning and maintenance pruning:
Shape pruning
The main objective of this type of pruning is to give the plant a certain appearance, but in addition to that we also achieve the following:
- Direct or limit growth: If we let our trees and plants grow freely, they would end up looking too wild, making our garden seem abandoned or abandoned… Whereas, if we direct the growth of these species, we can do real wonders. A clear example of this are hedges and bonsai.
- Control production: In the event that we do not control the growth of a plant too well, its flowering can become too voluminous in terms of number of flowers, thus ensuring that the tree or plant does not have enough energy to deliver the necessary sap to feed all those flowers, so that, consequently, they will become poor quality fruits in the case that we are talking about fruit trees.
- Avoid the appearance of pests and diseases: If we do a correct pruning, we will be making our plants develop with more strength and vitality. In addition to this, we will avoid the breaking of the weakest branches, thus eliminating the main entry point for infectious organisms.
Maintenance Pruning
This type of pruning consists of eliminating the most undesirable parts of the tree, such as dry branches, suckers, weak or diseased branches, dry leaves, etc.
This process is normally done once the tree has its defined shape and is done throughout the life of the tree. Depending on the species, the periodicity must be greater or lesser, so, for this, it is essential that you know what the requirements of the species you are planted are.
Other pruning types
- Fruiting pruning: This type of pruning is carried out mainly on fruit trees. The objective is to balance the fruit buds with the wood buds, in order to obtain higher quality fruits.
- Flowering pruning: As in fruiting pruning, what we do is seek an increase in quality, in this case of the flowers of our plants. An example of plants that require this type of pruning are hydrangeas and rose bushes.
- Collar pruning: This type of pruning is mainly done to trees that have been unpruned for a long time. The main objective is to recover it by reducing the dry branches, crossed, aged, etc …
What are the pruning tools?
Depending on the needs we have, there are different types of tools. The most prominent are:
- Pruning shears: It is the most common for pruning. We can distinguish those of one hand and those of two, leaving those of one hand for thin branches and those of two for somewhat thicker trunks.
- Saws: With a great cutting capacity, this type of tool is used for pruning thick branches.
- Hedge trimmers: They are ideal tools for leaves and thin branches. In case you have many hedges to prune, this is your machine, as it will greatly speed up your work.
Having talked about the tools, it is essential to touch on the safety aspects to take into account, therefore, for a pruning with minimal guarantees that the thing does not end badly, from our point of view, it is essential to use at least two elements of security:
- Gloves: In a way, avoid cuts, punctures and allergic reactions.
- Glasses or visor: It seems silly, but the most normal thing when you are cutting a tree branch with a saw, looking up, is that you want to slip splinters into your eye … We can easily solve this with safety glasses or a pruning visor.
Conclusions
In short, with this post we have tried to convey the importance of correct pruning to:
- Give our plants a desired shape
- Increase production
- Decrease pests
To do this, we must know the pruning requirements that each of the plants we have needs. Once knowing this and the type of pruning that we are going to carry out, use the appropriate tools and safety equipment to carry them out.
We sincerely hope that this post has served you, so that your garden looks like that of a professional. As always, we remind you that you can find us at our Garden Center in Benajarafe (Malaga), where we have for you more than 10,000 square meters of facilities and a highly qualified team, who will be happy to assist you and help you answer any questions you may have. We will wait for you!
Also if you need help pruning your garden, you can contact us to find out about our pruning and maintenance of gardens and green areas. Ask us for a budget without any kind of commitment.
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Email: Info@gardenflorymar.com
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Address: Diseminado Chilches Rural, 84, 29790, Benajarafe, Málaga