The Best Time To Prune Your Garden To Get The Best Results

Most people associate pruning simply with the process of cutting down the dead or infected branches in order to enhance the tree's health and growth. However, the core mechanics of Pruning and the method of harnessing optimal positive results from it depend on the collection of various factors. These factors may include –

• Right technique
• Using the right/ appropriate cutting tools
• Pruning at the right time

The first two factors seem to be a rather popular knowledge amongst all the garden enthusiasts. However, the right time for pruning seems to baffle most people. It's not as simple as just pruning when you see some dead branches. It is about ensuring that the tree grows taller, healthier and stronger in the future. The wrong time/ season for can produce unpropitious results, which is not what you (or anyone) would want. Hence, it is important to understand when you should undertake to reap its optimal benefits. You can always consider consulting localtreeexpert.com for further guidance.

When it comes to understanding the ideal time for pruning, different trees have different pruning seasons. This is primarily due to their different blooming seasons. Its time can also depend on your purpose for pruning as well.

• Pruning large trees

If you have a large tree in your backyard/ garden, and you want to prune it for better and more organized growth, the ideal time for pruning would be either late winter or early spring season. This gives them enough time to recover and grow new and stronger branches during the blooming (spring) season.

Learning how to use a billhook, and pruning during winter, also provides an additional and rather obvious advantage. The trees are free from any flowers or leaves during winter. Hence it provides easy access to the tree and helps in distinguishing the main trunk from the other branches as well.

• Pruning for limiting the growth of the tree

Some large trees in your garden can grow up to a height where it may start causing inconvenience to other nearby trees or transmission lines. In such cases, instead of cutting down the entire tree, you can prune the tree during Summer in order to reduce the rate at which the tree grows.

Pruning during summer can leave the tree exposed to the harsh sunlight conditions. Hence, the new growth is considerably lesser than in any other season. Also, a proper summer pruning can reduce the requirement during the late winter or early spring season.

• Pruning for increasing the tree's productivity

Whether the tree is a fruit tree or a flowering tree, the primary purpose of pruning for most people is to harness the maximum productivity during its blooming season. For such purposes, the ideal time would be after the flowers fade away aka right after its blooming season. The span of duration between the flowers shedding its flowers to the time when new flower shoots start to grow is the ideal time for pruning so that the new shoots develop in the healthiest possible way.

• Pruning to repair damages

Trees are naturally prone to damages, particularly due to severe weather conditions. Various harsh weather conditions such as lightning, storm, heavy rain, insect infestation, etc. contribute to damaging the tree's health and its overall structure. Such untimely damages can ruin the structure if not pruned at the earliest.

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It is, therefore, of utmost importance to cut those damaged branches as soon as you notice them. You don't have to wait till summer or winter to cut those branches. The longer they are kept, the more damage they can do to the rest of the tree.

These are just some of the most basic and ideal pruning duration/ season for harnessing the best results. The easier way is to seek advice from a professional Arborist such as Sydney Tree to help you determine the best time for various other fruits/ flowering trees.