Pruning is a common gardening chore that can help keep trees and shrubs healthy, attractive and safe. When done properly, pruning can prevent or reduce damage from insects, disease, storms, and other problems.
Corrective pruning involves removing any dead, dying or diseased plant parts as well as those that interfere with the natural shape and structure of a tree or shrub. This includes branches that cross or rub each other, those that have grown into or towards power lines, windows, houses, parked cars or sidewalks and those with narrow crotch angles. Removing water sprouts (shoots that grow straight up from a branch) and suckers is also important as they can weaken the overall structure of the plant and encourage other undesirable growth. Wound sealer products are not recommended for woody plants as they can lead to rot and are generally ineffective, except for deterring oak wilt.
Thinning the crown of a mature tree by removing specific live branches to reduce overall density and allow better sunlight penetration can be an effective form of pruning. This can also help reduce stress on selected limbs from gravity, wind, ice or snow. Topping a tree, the complete removal of the entire head or top of a mature tree is rarely recommended and is considered destructive to the health and appearance of the plant.
It is best to prune spring-blooming shrubs (such as rhododendrons, dogwoods, forsythia and lilacs) after they have finished blooming. Doing so removes flowers that would have grown on last year’s growth and helps the plant develop a stronger trunk more quickly.
source https://litchfieldtreeservices.wordpress.com/2024/01/27/pruning-your-trees-and-shrubs/
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