Proper pruning helps trees and shrubs maintain their health, natural form, and appropriate size within the landscape. The Dreamscapes provides professional tree and shrub pruning as part of our landscape maintenance services, with pruning decisions based on the type of plant, its growth habit, condition, and the reason it needs to be pruned.

Why Trees and Shrubs Are Pruned

Before making any cuts, it is important to know what you are trying to accomplish. Trees and shrubs may be pruned:

• To train the plant and guide its shape
• To maintain plant health
• To improve the quality of flowers, fruit, foliage, or stems
• To manage growth and keep a plant within its available space
• To remove damaged or hazardous growth and improve safety

When Should Trees and Shrubs Be Pruned?

Pruning can be done at different times of the year, but the best timing varies by plant and by the type of pruning being performed. Repeated pruning at the wrong time can weaken a plant or interfere with flowering and healthy growth.

• Late winter and early spring: This is a good pruning period for many trees and shrubs before active spring growth begins. Dormant pruning also gives the plant the growing season to close and compartmentalize pruning wounds.
• Immediately after spring growth: Avoid unnecessary heavy pruning just after a plant has produced a flush of new growth. The plant has already used stored energy to produce that foliage and needs time to replace those reserves.
• Late summer: Limit heavy pruning late in the season. Pruning can stimulate tender new growth that may not have enough time to harden before cold weather arrives.
• Damaged or dead branches: Limbs damaged by storms, breakage, or other problems should be addressed when necessary rather than waiting for the normal pruning season.
• Flowering trees and shrubs: Timing depends on when the plant blooms. Many spring-flowering plants are best pruned after flowering, while many plants that bloom on new growth can be pruned before spring growth begins.

Crape Myrtles have their own pruning requirements and should not be repeatedly cut back or topped. For detailed information, see our Crape Myrtle Pruning guide.

Recently moved trees and shrubs should also be given time to establish before unnecessary structural pruning is performed. If you are considering relocating an existing plant, see our Tree & Plant Transplanting information.

How to Prune Trees and Shrubs

Every pruning cut creates a wound. Trees and shrubs respond by closing and compartmentalizing the affected area, which is why clean cuts and a planned approach are important.

Start With a Purpose

Pruning should follow a definite plan. Consider why a branch needs to be removed before making the cut rather than simply cutting until the plant looks smaller.

Training cuts can be used to guide the shape of a tree or shrub, fill an open area caused by storm or wind damage, or keep growth within the available space. Before training a plant, it is important to understand its natural growth habit. Repeatedly forcing a plant into a shape that works against its natural form usually creates more pruning work over time.

Corrective pruning may also be needed to remove weak growth, narrow branch unions, competing leaders, crossing branches, or unnecessary water sprouts. If a considerable amount of wood has already been removed, additional corrective pruning may need to wait rather than taking too much from the plant at once.

Common Types of Pruning Cuts

• Thinning: Removes an entire branch or shoot back to its point of origin or to an appropriate lateral branch. Thinning can reduce density while maintaining more of the plant's natural form.
• Heading: Removes a portion of a shoot or branch. Buds below the cut respond with new growth, often producing several new shoots. Repeated heading can create excessive, dense growth and alter the plant's natural shape.
• Rejuvenation: Cuts an overgrown shrub back severely so new growth can develop from lower on the plant. Large-leaf hollies, azaleas, and ligustrums can respond well to this treatment, while some smaller-leaf and narrow-leaf evergreens do not respond as well. Rejuvenation should only be used on plants that tolerate this type of pruning.

Making Proper Pruning Cuts

Pruning cuts should be clean and smooth, which requires sharp, appropriate equipment. Avoid leaving long stubs and take care not to tear the bark when removing larger branches.

When shortening a branch, cut back to a suitable lateral branch or healthy bud rather than leaving an unsupported section of stem. Cuts made near buds should be close enough to avoid leaving dead tips, but not so close that the bud itself is damaged.

When opening up a woody plant, selected interior growth can be removed to improve its structure while preserving the natural shape. Where appropriate, cutting back to outward-facing growth can encourage the plant to develop away from the crowded center.

Large branches require additional care because their weight can tear bark as they fall. These cuts should be made in stages so the final cut can be completed cleanly without stripping bark from the trunk or remaining branch.

How Pruning Affects New Growth

The amount removed has a direct effect on how a plant responds. In general, heavier pruning produces stronger vegetative regrowth because the existing root system is supporting a smaller amount of top growth.

For example, a deciduous shrub cut back severely may respond with vigorous new shoots but produce fewer flowers during the first season. A shrub that is pruned more lightly usually retains more of its existing branching and produces shorter, less vigorous new growth while preserving more flower buds.

This is why more pruning is not always better. The amount removed should match the goal for the plant, whether that is maintaining its natural shape, controlling size, encouraging renewal, improving flowering, or correcting damaged growth.

Professional Tree & Shrub Pruning

Knowing when to prune, what to remove, and how much to take at one time can make the difference between improving a plant and creating additional problems. The Dreamscapes can evaluate established trees and shrubs and prune them according to their species, condition, growth habit, and place in the landscape.

Call The Dreamscapes at 678-574-4008 or schedule a free estimate online for tree and shrub pruning services.