The Proper Time To Prune Trees & Shrubs

The Proper Time to Prune Trees and Shrubs

Ever wonder if you are hurting your plants by pruning them.  Usually if pruning is done properly, it can provide an abundance of new growth for trees and shrubs, but it should be done at the right time.  This blog will cover the best times to trim your trees and shrubs, without the fear a bad outcome.

Deciduous Shrubs

Pruning of deciduous shrubs is determined by the plant’s grown habits, their overall health, and when they bloom.  Lilacs and forsythia bushes tend to flower in the spring, from the growth of the pervious year.  So observing the plants condition will be the best indicator as to when the pruning should begin.

Pruning is needed to help promote new growth to a plant and can be especially important for overgrown flowering shrubs.  The best time to prune large, overgrown plants are late winter to early spring (March to April).  This will reduce the amount of flowering for that season, but in the years to come it will provide a much healthier display.  Well kept plants and shrubs should be pruned after it is done flowering.  This will allow for a pretty display of flowers, but will also give the plant enough time to initiate new buds for next season.  

Summer flowering shrubs should be trimmed in late winter or early spring.  These plants bloom off of the current years growth, so it is important to get rid of any dead before the season begins.

Any shrubs that produce fruits or lush foliage should be pruned in late winter and early spring, before growth begins.  

It is very important that you do NOT prune shrubs in late summer.  Trimming in the late summer can promote new growth late in the season.  As the temps begin to change, these plants can be shocked by the cold temperatures and experience winter injuries.  

Evergreen Shrubs

Evergreens should be pruned in late March to early April, before new growth begins.  These shrubs can undergo a light trim in the summer, but shouldn’t be pruned in the fall.  Again, trimming in the fall can promote an increased change of winter injury.

Deciduous Trees

As a rule of thumb, most trees should be trimmed in February and March.  Trimming during this time, allow arborists to have a clear picture of the tree’s branch structures and can help the figure out which branches to remove.  Also, trees have the ability to self heal, or compartmentalize, which occurs most rapidly before new growth occurs in spring.  The one tree that doesn’t follow this rule are Oak trees.  They should be pruned in the winter (Dec-Feb).  

Most deciduous trees can be pruned at other times of the year, but it’s not advised to trim when tree’s are starting he leaf out or when then are dropping their leaves.  Also, do not prune oaks from March to October since the oak tree can be more susceptible to oak wilt, which is a fungal disease.  This fungus can speak from tree to tree through sap-feeding beetles.  If an Oak has storm damage in the middle of summer, it is advised to use house paint to cover the wounds.  This will deter beetles from getting into the tree.  

Fruit Trees

Especially in Nebraska, fruit trees should be trimmed in late Feb to early April.  It is best to prune fruit trees before they begin to leaf out in early spring.

Evergreen Trees

Most evergreens do not require much maintenance and can typically be trimmed year round.  Late winter is the best time to remove the lower branches of an evergreen.  Spruce and fit trees have lateral buds that can be cut back to promote fullness.  To achieve a fuller tree, it is best to ht the shoots back above the lateral bud in early spring.

Pines grow and develop from terminal buds and no not produce later buds, like spruces and firs.  Growth can be stunted on pines if one and a half of the terminal buds are removed.