Before we begin to cut the leaves and branches of our trees, we will have to make sure that it is time. The period of tree pruning generally coincides with the vegetative resting phase of the plant, which ranges from autumn after the fall of the leaves to spring and the flowering of new shoots.
But there is also a "green pruning" that is carried out from spring to summer to eliminate the superfluous vegetation of very lush plants, such as peaches.
Once the season has been established in Ocean Pines, it is necessary to choose the appropriate days. And to establish them we will take into account the moon, which has an important influence on the pruning of trees, grafts and planting. Without going any further, it is enough to know that for pruning it is always advisable to operate in conditions of waning moon because better results are obtained in fruiting in the pruning of fruit trees.
How to prune the trees
And now comes the most important question of all, how is tree pruning done? That in Tree Service we could add to another equally key question, how much should we prune trees? The answer for both would be: it depends.
So that you know how and how much to prune there is, however, a basic rule that consists of: intense pruning in old trees and minimal pruning in young trees in full fruiting.
The older a plant is, the less vigorous it is and the more pruning it will need. With the branches of young trees, we will have to do the opposite: to balance growth and fruiting, vigorous branches must be shortened, while weak ones must be reduced. Taking these two things into account: the most vigorous branches are usually the vertical ones (where the sap flows faster), the weakest are the horizontal and the curves.
Two other important things for balanced tree pruning that we consider in Tree Service are: the
vegetation of a branch (a carrier branch) must have a decreasing development from the base to the limb; in addition, it should be pruned shorter towards the apex of the tree and closer to the basal branches.
Where to prune?
In the sense of: at what point of the branch? There is also a basic rule for this: look at the yolks and leave at least one. With this in mind: the apical (terminal) bud is more vigorous and develops faster than the underlying lateral shoots (this is called "apical dominance"); the emergence implies the formation of early buds in the underlying buds; When a bud is shortened, the development of the individual underlying lateral buds will have to be proportional to the amount of buds left.
In any case, the pruning cut must be made 6-7 mm above the yolk and must have an angle of 45 ° so that when it rains the water slips through the cut and in this way no fungi or diseases occur.
If you want to direct the vegetation correctly, cut a yolk to the right, and do the same to the left. Before pruning, make sure you know the characteristics of the plant you are working on: some plants bear fruit on the branches once a year, others more than once a year and others on the oldest branches of different ages.
With what tools to prune? There are many types of pruning shears, but the tool depends on the diameter of the branch, and it is essential that it be well sharpened. The cut must be made with the base of the scissors, not with the tip, and must be clean; on the other hand, if there are spaces they must be finished with a knife or sickle. In the case of large branches, the wound should be protected with a putty to prevent infections, frost damage or parasites.
And to be sure, for poisonous plants like, for example, oleander, or for plants full of thorns such as orange and bramble, gloves are essential!
How to choose secateurs
In the Ocean Pines market there are many types of scissors, from traditional curved blades, to pneumatic or ratchet scissors. Each type of scissors is suitable for tree pruning some tree species and others a little less.