pruning shrubs

Summer pruning: use it for a specific growth problem, not as a second winter

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Summer Pruning

Summer pruning is most useful when an actively growing woody plant has a specific problem that can be corrected with a limited cut. The leaves make crowding, shade, water sprouts, suckers, and interfering shoots easier to see, but that same active canopy is also supporting the plant through heat, drought, flowering, and fruit development. The

Dormant pruning: what winter visibility helps you see, and what it does not

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Dormant Pruning

Dormant pruning can make the structure of deciduous trees and shrubs easier to judge because leaves are out of the way, but visibility alone does not make every winter cut a good cut. The useful decision is to separate branches that clearly need attention from plants whose flowering cycle, regional disease risk, cold conditions, or