8 Most Common Pruning Mistakes

Proper pruning enhances the beauty of almost any landscape tree and shrub, while improper pruning can ruin or greatly reduce its landscape potential. By using improper pruning methods healthy plants are often weakened or deformed. In nature, every plant eventually is pruned in some manner. More trees are killed or ruined each year from improper pruning than by pests. Pruning, which has several definitions, essentially involves removing plant parts to improve the health, landscape effect, or value of the plant. The necessity for pruning can be reduced or eliminated by selecting the proper plant for the location. Advances in plant breeding and selection in the nursery industry provide a wide assortment of plants requiring little or no pruning. However, even the most suitable landscape plants often require some pruning. The guidelines presented in here should be helpful when pruning any plant.

 Pruning a tree or shrub incorrectly can make the plant less attractive and endanger its health. In the case of trees, poor pruning can even endanger your safety by weakening the tree. Pruning should follow a definite plan. The next step in pruning is to make any training cuts needed. To properly train a plant, one should understand its natural growth habit. Pruning should follow a definite plan. Consider the reason or purpose before cutting begins.

Most trees and shrubs are hardy enough to recover from pruning mistakes, though it might take years. 8 of the most common pruning mistakes...

Mistake 1:  Tree topping.  Plants that might grow too large for the site, are not entirely hardy, or become unsightly with age should be used wisely and kept to a minimum in the landscape plan.  The exceptions are fruit trees, such as apple, pear and peach trees -- the height of these can be controlled by topping.

Mistake 2: Cutting branches flush to a tree trunk. If you cut branches flush to the trunk -- or flush to an intersecting branch -- decay penetrates the trunk, reducing the life span of your tree.

 Mistake 3: Pruning every shrub into a round or rectangular shape.  Try to avoid destroying the natural shape or growth habit when pruning.

Mistake 4: Trimming water sprouts. Pruned plants sometimes develop water sprouts -- ugly, twiggy upward growths from spots where branches were cut.

Mistake 6: Cutting off branches that are too big.

Mistake 5: Using hedge clippers. These clippers trim the surface of a plant, which is appropriate only for hedges. Power hedge clippers, in particular, should be used only on hedges because they can do a lot of damage. Use real pruning tools which include bypass hand pruners and a pruning saw.

Mistake 7: Heavy pruning during times of harsh weather. Spring is usually the best time for heavy pruning. In general, it’s best to prune flowering trees and shrubs soon after they flower.

Mistake 8: Pruning Evergreens 

With few exceptions, evergreens (conifers) require little pruning. Different types of evergreens should be pruned according to their varied growth habits. If you want to promote more dense growth, remove up to two-thirds of the length of newly expanded candles. Don’t prune further back than the current year’s growth.