by JOHN KATTERJOHN
It’s the middle of February, the weather is all over the place with temperatures wildly fluctuating and the sun teasingly appearing. The soil is completely saturated, so, digging is completely out of the question. One garden task that could and should be done right now is dormant pruning. Any nice day when the temperature is above freezing, and it’s not raining, provides a great opportunity for frustrated gardeners to get outside and do some real work.
Prune Deciduous Trees and Shrubs Only
Shearing and pruning evergreens is not recommended at this time, but pruning deciduous plants is a necessary task. Just remember, pruning early spring-flowering plants will reduce the number of flowers that will be produced. With this in mind, grab your clean and sharp pruning tools and go outside. Let the fun begin.
Seven Reasons Why We Prune?
- To improve plant structure and aesthetic appearance
- Reduce the overall size of a plant
- Maintain health by removing dead or diseased branches
- To rejuvenate an old or overgrown plant
- To avoid conflict with structures, other plants, vehicular traffic, or people
- To remove undesirable growth that detracts from the appearance of a plant
- To let air and light penetrate the inside of a plant to help reduce disease and show off attractive bark color or limb structure
What Should We Prune?
- Crowded branches
- Crossed branches
- Branches with narrow (weak) crotch angles
- Suckers and watersprouts
- Limbs that are in the way of sidewalks and driveways, roofs of buildings, utility poles
- Dead and/or diseased branches
Which Plants Benefit Most from Dormant Pruning?
- All deciduous trees in general
- Crabapple and apple trees (the absolute best time)
- Old lilacs, spiraeas, viburnums, roses (not once-flowering old roses), hydrangeas (only ones that bloom on new wood), buddleias, shrub dogwoods (as long as you don’t mind losing a few blooms), and other summer-blooming shrubs
- Perennial and ornamental grasses (if they were left standing for ornamental purposes)
Dormant pruning is really a fun task. It gets you outside and produces great looking plants. There are no leaves to block your vision and you can actually see the true structure of a plant. Dormant pruning must be done before bud swell so that stress is not induced. Once a plant starts to grow, an internal system is turned on. Stifling and confusing this physiology will potentially damage the plant, and at least, weaken it.
If you are looking for more gardening tips for February click here.