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Why we prune
• Health of tree
• Maintain size and shape
• Aesthetics
• Promote flowering and fruiting
Increase Property Values!
Pruning – Step by Step
1. Assess
2. Remove dead, diseased and broken branches
3. Remove crossing branches
4. Remove suckers and watersprouts
5. Reduce size if needed
6. Thin as needed
7. Final shaping cuts for aesthetic purposes
Step 1 - Assess
Blocking Views Open up to let sun in
and expose interesting branching structure
Blocking walkways
Assess
Thin!
Step 2 - Remove Deadwood
Step 2 - Remove Disease
Black Knot fungus on cherry branch
Scratch test Healthy
Diseased
Fire Blight on Apple or Pear
Resources • http://plantpath.osu.edu/ • http://ohioline.osu.edu/ • Botanical Garden • Garden Centers
Sanitation
10% 90%
Some plant diseases can be spread with pruners
Step 3 - Eliminate crossing branches
Rubbing wears away protective bark
Which one goes?
What’s the ultimate goal?
Grafts
Step 4 – Remove
Watersprouts and Suckers
Watersprouts on stressed cherry tree in Lakewood Park
Step 5 – Reduction cuts
B A
C
Reduction cuts on Buckeye at Holden Arboretum Don’t take off more than a third of the canopy in any season
Yews – Open them up so sunlight can penetrate
Good Shape Not as Good
Hedges
Good shape so sunlight can hit all parts of the shrub
Stimulating Lateral Growth by removing the central stem
Redirecting growth
Prune back to an outwardly facing branch or bud
Which way do we want it to grow?
Redirecting growth based on where we make our cuts
Types of Branching
Maples, Buckeyes, Ash, Dogwood, Catalpa Most other large trees
Cutting branches that are opposite
Red Twig Dogwood
Small Space
Options
Espaliered Cornelian Cherry Dogwood
Where’s the Sun?
Where’s the Sun?
Exposure to sunlight will affect growth
Step 6 – Thin as needed
Japanese Maple too flat and congested
After a couple years of pruning
Removing up to a third of old wood
• Lilac
• Forsythia
• Viburnum
• Rose of Sharon
• Burning Bush
• Weigela
• Mahonia
• Mock Orange
Rejuvination Pruning
Red Twig Dogwoods, Spirea, Potentilla, smokebush and shrubby willows can be cut to the ground!
Get them off to a good start!
arborday.org
How long
should my tree
live?
• 4,000-year-old+ Bristlecone Pine
• But urban trees average only about 10 years because of poor conditions and abuse
Develop strong branch angles on shade trees early
Strong Weak
Competing Leaders
Snip them off while they are small
Red Maple needs a cable because a weak crotch angle was allowed to develop
Branches equally distributed around trunk
Replacing a Broken Central Leader
Bending
More Bending
Even More Bending!
Peter Cook’s living artwork
• Cut willow twigs used in a winter display
• Willow twigs root easily
• The new willow is then fun to bend and prune into various shapes
Pruning Conifers
Pinch back new growth to maintain size
But difficult to reduce
Prune for Aesthetics
Making Pruning Cuts
Where is the Branch
Collar?
Where is the Branch Collar?
Making Heavier Cuts
Oops!
Making Heavier Cuts
Old cuts sealing
over
Avoid Stub Cuts
Avoid Stub Cuts
This part will die
Where is the branch collar?
Avoid Stub Cuts
Avoid Topping
Results
Exception
Caution!
Finding the right tree company
• City list of Registered Tree Contractors
Bypass Pruners
Anvil Pruners
Proper Tools
More Tools
Prune to encourage flowering & fruiting
Prune to maximize fruiting
Grapes
When to Prune?
Flower Bud Set
Hydrangeas
What’s my shrub?
• Apps
• Keys
LeafSnap for IPhone Like that Garden for Android Virginia Tech Tree ID Key online
Plants that bloom on old wood
Prior to July 1
• Lilac pruned too late in the season
Forsythia flower buds survived the cold winter under the cover of snow
A zone 6 plant should be able to survive cold winters down to -10 degrees
Plants that bloom on new growth
Generally after July 1
Summer pruning can increase chances of disease
• Oak Wilt (coat wound with latex paint to deter the beetle)
• Fire Blight on Apples, Pears and Hawthorns
• Stem Cankers on Honey Locusts
Final Thoughts
• Plant at the right depth
Final Thoughts
Results!
• Mulch the ground not the tree trunks
Final Thoughts
Roots should emerge straight out from around the trunk
• Beauty • Cleaner air,
healthier people who live longer!
• Less stormwater runoff into Lake Erie
• Shaded house saves up to 30% on summer energy costs
• Higher property values
Lakewood Forestry Division (216) 529-6810
Onelakewood.com Chris.Perry@lakewoodoh.net
Cleveland Botanical Garden/Holden Arboretum
rrensel@cbgarden.org
Promoting a greener,
healthier and more vibrant community
KEEP Lakewood BEAUTIFUL
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