When Should You Prune Your Trees?
When is the ideal time for pruning? After a rainy year like we just experienced your trees may be wild and overgrown.Pruning should be done to remove any dead, broken, injured, diseased, or insect infested branches or to prune out branches that are too large, low or overhanging or have become a hazard.
You should also prune when the weather is dry so disease doesn’t get in the wounds. Don’t prune when it is very hot or during drought conditions either as this could stress the tree or shrub.
Spring Flowering Trees & Shrubs
Pruning plants whose flowering time is before June 1st is best right after blooming to promote flowers for next year. Some examples include: crabapple, deutzia, forsythia, lilac, redbud, serviceberry, rhododendron, viburnum and weigela.
Summer Flowering Trees & Shrubs
Plants that flower after June 1st can be pruned at anytime, except in the heat of the summer when insects are active. Twiggy shrubs such as potentilla and spirea also benefit from a good trimming first thing in the spring. They will bounce back looking fresh and full. These plants may also be lightly trimmed after each flush of bloom to promote re-bloom.
Evergreens
After new growth and around late June is a good time for evergreens. You should have 50-90% of the new growth trimmed back, being careful to avoid cutting back into older wood. Prune every year to encourage tighter, more compact growth. Allow some new growth to remain every year. Evergreens shouldn’t be pruned in late summer or fall as late new growth will be prone to winter burn.
Trees
Many trees are best pruned in winter when they’re dormant. If certain species of trees are pruned early in the spring, they will “bleed,” stressing the tree and causing health problems. Maples and birches will “bleed” or lose sap from pruning cuts made early in the spring. This does not hurt the tree, and the loss of sap is inconsequential. With a few exceptions, most routine pruning can be done any time of year. The worst time is just as the tree has leafed out in the spring. Wait until the leaves are dark green in summer. The best time is when the tree is dormant.
Newly Planted Trees
Limit pruning at the time of planting to structural training and the removal of damaged branches as they need their crown to produce food and plant hormones that induce root growth.
Contact Wood Acres Tree Specialists for more information on the proper time to have your trees pruned. Wood Acres is staffed with certified arborists, We have been caring for trees and pruning them correctly to promote tree health in Maryland and Washington, DC since 1983. For beautifully healthy trees: Wood Acres Tree Specialists.
