Pruning is an art form, and is important for the health of your trees.
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My husband has always been happy to regard the garden as my domain, but in a household where most of the labour is shared, it was inevitable that at some point his services would be called on. First, it was the hedges, with the lure of a fine set of cordless trimmers. Less willingly, though, he would lug away the weed piles that accumulated like molehills behind me as I gardened. It became apparent that for me to entice him further into the role of enthusiastic gardener’s assistant, more equipment was required. Father’s Day was on the horizon. Hmmm.
With our urban forest slowly closing in on us, my attempts at pruning, while balancing precariously on combinations of stools and ladders, were no longer enough. The perfect solution presented itself – a full-length pruning saw with a 3.7m stretch and both a saw and a lopper option. This was a tool no man could resist, especially when combined with 4cu m of empty skip. With the trap set, all I had to do was arrive home with this tempting tool and leave the rest to unfold.
Pruning is an art form and it’s essential if you want to live alongside trees without losing sunlight and views. It is also important the health and form of trees is maintained. Frequently, owners simply take the quick-fix option of removing a tree that is shading their property and then come to mourn the loss of benefits they’d taken for granted. This is often because the tree has been allowed to grow freely without early and regular pruning to limit its size to one suited to the site.
Generally, pruning is best done in late winter or early spring, although certain trees, such as flowering or fruit trees, have more specific requirements. The first step is to prune for health by removing all dead and diseased wood. This lets you assess the state of the tree. Look out for infestations such as borer. This will be obvious when you start, as damaged branches will be hollow or filled with sawdust, with visible drill holes. Commercial products can be injected into the holes, but it can be hard to get rid of borer altogether. You won’t necessarily need to remove the tree, but you must treat the borer – and watch out for it spreading. Also, dispose of infected wood carefully.
In the past, pruning pastes were popular as a way to prevent potential infection getting into the open cuts, but the current view is that trees have their own process of “compartmentalisation” in which the cells change physiologically to create a barrier between the diseased area and the rest of the tree, preventing the flow of nutrients to damaged parts.
The next step is to prune for shape. Aim for an aesthetic form that will grow well, but don’t forget about your own needs: keeping views clear, letting in sunlight or providing screening or shelter. Remember the tree will be growing all spring and summer before it’s pruned again, so if it’s a view you are trying to frame or if you want to let sun through, pruning hard can be to your advantage. As a rule of thumb, don’t remove more than a third of the tree at one time.
Prune back to healthy buds or nodes on the side of branches so they will grow in the desired direction. Removing growth from the top of a tree is the most obvious way to increase the amount of light getting through, but thinning the canopy can be just as effective. Evenly removing some of the branches will let extra light in places where some shade or dappled light is desirable. This way you won’t be exposed to overbearing heat in summer.
As well as taking into account trees’ shape and views, also look at their proximity to other houses or power lines and any potential problems this may cause. A small trim now and again is less onerous than removing large branches later on. It’s easier to keep a tree in good form if you don’t have to prune reactively. Ideally, trees with the potential to grow large should be planted with foresight, but as our gardens are often inherited sometimes it’s a case of making the most of what’s there. Watch for trees that could split. The most likely to do this are those with two central leaders (the main stem) of equal strength. If this is the case in young trees, one may need to be removed. For mature trees, talk to a professional who can assess the risk and advise the best course of action.
Back at our place, a day of pruning together in the garden was a great success. With me on the ground pointing commandingly while cheering on my husband up the ladder as he snipped and sawed branch by branch, we artfully sculpted the tree-dense hillside. We cleared pathways to the sky that allowed sunshine onto our deck, but also retained our privacy. Eventually, the sun slipped behind the hill, leaving a skip filled with interwoven twigs and branches. With aching limbs and a well-deserved beer, he uttered words I’d long been waiting for, just to be certain once and for all that he was indeed the perfect man.
“I really love gardening, when it’s for us.” A 3.7m pruning saw was a small price to pay for that.