USC Upstate Landscape Services

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USC UpstateLandscape Services

• Lunch N Learn

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PRUNING

• What To Do
• and
• What NOT To Do

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Pruning Tools
Pruning tools are available in a wide range of
brand names. Most pruning tasks can be
accomplished by using

• Hand Pruners
• Lopping Shears
• Pruning Saws
• Pole Pruners
• Hedge Shears

• The two basic type of hand pruners are
• By-pass Type
• Anvil Type

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The Right Tool for the Job

• Hand Pruners small twigs/branches up to .5
  diameter
• Lopping Shears larger branches .5-1.5
  diameter
• Pruning Saw branches larger than 1.5
  diameter.
• Pole Pruners branches that cannot be reached
  from the ground.
• Hedge Shears shear hedges for neatly trimmed
  appearance.

To keep all pruning tools in good shape, sharpen
and oil their blades at the end of each season.
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Timing

• Flower Before June 1 After Spring BloomPlants
  such as azalea, dogwood, forsythia, redbud and
  rhododendron set flower buds in the fall, so
  pruning during the fall and winter months
  eliminates or decreased their spring flower
  display. Plants that typically flower during the
  summer form flower buds on new growth and can be
  pruned during the winter with no effect on their
  flowering.
• Flower After June 1 Before Spring BloomPlants
  such as crape myrtle, lavender, perennials, and
  magnolia are considered summer flowering and can
  be pruned prior to spring growth.
• Note ExceptionOak leaf Hydrangea and late
  flowering Azalea cultivars, form their flowering
  buds the previous season.
• These plant types can be pruned immediately
  following their bloom.

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Technique (Be Careful)

• Terminal Bud
• Contains Auxin Hormone
• Directs Growth to Lateral Bud
• Terminal Bud Intact Auxin Suppression
• Lateral Buds Shoots Behind Terminal
• Remove Terminal Bud and Lateral Buds Shoots
  Below Cut Grow Vigorously
• Most Growth Occurs 6-8 Within Cut

http//hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic1003.htm
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Heading Back or Thinning

• Heading Back rarely warranted in landscape
  sites.
• Drop-Crotching prune back to fork at least half
  the diameter of the limb.
• Sprouts Within several months prune out sprouts
  growing in response to cut.
• Hat-Rack cutting all of its branches back to
  an arbitrary length
• This type of pruning has no place in
  horticulture.
• Thinning cutting selected branches back to a
  lateral branch or main trunk is usually
  preferred over heading back
• If further thinning is desired, remove branches
  back to major limbs to create an open crown. This
  is a specialized technique best performed by a
  professional arborist.
• Space remaining branches along the major limbs so
  that each one has room to develop.
• Trees with properly thinned crowns resist wind
  damage better than unpruned trees.

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Branch Selection

• Become familiar with tree form
• Prune to enhance natural shape of tree
• Remove dead, diseased or broken branches
• To shorten, using thinning cuts
• Young Tree establish single leader
• Large Tree branches greater than 1.5 inches
  require 3 cuts
• First cut on underside of branch 15 inches away
  from trunk.
• Second cut downward 18 inches from trunk.
• Third cut outside of branch bark ridge and end
  outside of branch collar
• Crape Myrtle Pruning (follow link)
  http//hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic1009.htm

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Nandina domestica
Constitutes Selective Pruning
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Heavenly Bamboo
Multiple Canes
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Are You Kidding Me???
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Auxins At Work
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Results of Butchering
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Recent Pruning at Taco Bell
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Bird Nest Effect Wendys
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USC Upstate - Library
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USC Upstate - Smith
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USC Upstate Hodge Parking
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Crape Myrtle Selections

• 11 15AcomaComancheSioux
• 16 20TuskegeeCatawbaAppalachia

• 21 25TuscaroraMiamiWichita
• 26 30ChoctawBiloxi
• 30MuskogeeNatchezFantasy

http//hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic1023.htm
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Questions?
Dont forget to visit the USC Upstate Landscape
Services webpage.
http//www.uscupstate.edu/about_upstate/landscapin
g