Tips for Pruning Your Landscape
Part of having a beautiful landscape is maintaining it. This comes naturally to some people, and to others, it’s a bit more challenging. If you didn’t grow up helping out in the yard, it can be intimidating to try and learn new skills when you feel like the lives of your plants are at stake. One critical aspect of gardening is pruning trees, shrubs, and other plants. If you want to learn some simple tips to get you started with learning how to prune properly, read the article below!
Use the Right Tools
Before you can expect to get a good handle on pruning your plants, you first need to invest in the right tools. Luckily, the tools you need for basic pruning are inexpensive and easy to find. While it may seem like all you need are a pair of hand pruners, there might be more you should consider if you have a larger variety of plants.
If the stems you are pruning are thick or have thorns on them like roses, you might want to consider getting “lopping” shears. These have handles that are much longer than hand shears and allow you to get more leverage by using arm strength to clamp down and not just hand strength. The long handles also allow you to avoid getting pricked by thorns since you don’t have to stick your arms deep in between each stem.
If you’re pruning soft but numerous plants like Day Lilies or Black Eyed Susans, you should consider getting “hedging” shears. These are shears with a longer blade and allow you to cut more than one plant at once. If you are cutting each individual stem, it could take days to finish one section of your yard. These shears allow you to get things done quicker.
If you aren’t sure what kind of shears you should get, contact a local landscaping company to help you out. They can take a look at your yard and give you an expert opinion on what kind of tools you should invest in.
Choose the Right Time of Year
Pruning during the right time of year is extremely important. Before you prune any plant, you should do some basic research to see when the prime time of year is to prune. For a lot of plants, a really good time to prune is late fall. This allows the plants to go dormant over the winter and start up again during the spring for prime growth. However, this may not be the case for every plant in your landscape. Again, if you’re unsure about when the right time to prune is, you can always ask one of our professionals!
Cut in the Right Places
The ability that a plant has to grow back after pruning depends a lot on where it was cut down. You want to make sure you make the cuts in the right places. Keep in mind that there are different purposes for pruning. Are you thinning? Heading? Shaping? Thinning means you want to make the plant smaller, and heading makes the plant able to grow bigger. If you’re thinning, make cuts closer to the base of the plant so that they don’t grow back. If you want to make the plant grow bigger, make cuts where the plant branches off or above a “node” so that more stems grow back. Again, be sure to do research about each individual plant before pruning to make sure you cut it correctly.
Safety First
Above all else, your safety is the most important thing to take into consideration when pruning. When it comes to trees, large shrubs, or other things you don’t feel comfortable cutting on your own, it’s always best to seek professional assistance! Pruning trees can be especially challenging, so don’t hesitate to reach out to our professional landscapers.