During the winter months, you have an opportunity to work in the landscape bed while most perennials, shrubs and trees are dormant. For many species of plants, this is a great time to move them around, clean-out dead leaves, and prune to maintain an attractive, healthy shape. If you’re working with deciduous plants, winter pruning also makes it easier to see the shape while branches aren’t covered with leaves.
What To Prune
Most trees and shrubs – both deciduous and evergreen – can be pruned in the winter. The best time to prune is in late winter about a month before the buds break in the spring. Very cold weather can damage the cut parts of branches, so late winter pruning tries to avoid the worst winter weather. If your area has mild winters, you can prune during the earlier winter months as well.
You can remove weak, twiggy and dead branches from all types of trees and shrubs in the winter. If you’re pruning to shape the plants and encourage healthy growth, winter is a good time to prune summer-flowering trees like crepe myrtle and rose of Sharon, hydrangeas that bloom on new growth, evergreen hedges and fruit trees. Fruit trees do flower and bloom on old growth, and you’ll loose some fruit the season after you prune, but in the long-term pruning results in healthier trees and a better crop.
What Not To Prune
Pruning at the wrong time of year won’t kill most plants, but it may stunt their growth and prevent flowering. You don’t want to prune spring-flowering trees and shrubs like quince, lilacs and azaleas in the winter, since that will remove flower buds. For these plants, wait until after they flower to prune. Do the same thing for old-fashioned hydrangeas, which bloom on growth from last year.
Birch, dogwood, elm, maple and walnut trees all ooze sap from cut branches if you prune during the winter. Pruning won’t hurt the trees, but the sap will gum-up your tools and drip to the ground. Wait until summer or fall to prune sap-producing trees if you won’t want a mess. Call a professional tree-care service for trimming any trees near power lines and to remove limbs you can’t safely reach from the ground with pole pruners.
Pruning Tips
Use sharp, clean tools to make pruning cuts. Dirty tools can encourage disease development, so soak tools in a mixture of 3 parts water to 1 part pine cleaner or household bleach for 5 minutes as a disinfectant. Rinse the tools with clean water before use.
You’ll also want to choose the right tool for the right job. Hedge shears work well for broadleaf evergreens like boxwood. Bypass pruners are for trimming back twigs and branches about the size of a pencil or smaller. Loppers are used for branches up to 1 inch diameter, and pruning saws work for thicker branches. Richardson Saw & Lawnmower carries Corona hand tools to fill all your pruning needs.
When pruning, make each cut at an angle just above the point where a bud joins the stem. Don’t remove any more than 1/3 of the plant’s overall size. Focus on creating a balanced shape in the plant. If there are any stems crossing and rubbing against each other, and remove the smaller of the two stems.
