The benefits of pruning your trees

If you have a fascination for gardening, and have been looking into garden grooming techniques, pruning is one of the most common terms you might have come across. Pruning basically refers to trimming leaves and branches to keep the plants in the desired shape and size. It is one of the elementary garden grooming functions.

How can pruning benefit your garden?

It is advisable to prune your plants, trees, and shrubs at the right time for several reasons. Have a look at the top benefits of pruning the trees in your garden.

• Healthier plants: Dead foliage usually attracts various pests and diseases. Removing the dead leaves and branches would eliminate this risk and keep your plants healthy. Moreover, removal of dead parts allows the fresh growth of new branches.
• Safety: Dead tree branches can prove to be quite hazardous for your property and family. People getting injured or even killed due to broken tree branches falling on them during storms is a common accident. Trimming away the dead branches timely is crucial for safety.
• Aesthetic appeal: Plants and shrubs look aesthetically pleasing when they are kept in the right shape. It would greatly beautify your garden and enhance the overall ambience of your property. Pruning happens to be an essential element in the bonsai technique too.

Essentially, pruning is one of the gardening activities that you should not ignore. Whether you own a large garden, a small one or just an indoor garden with potted plants, pruning them properly would ensure the healthy growth of the plants and plenty of bloom.

Pruning tips and techniques

While pruning your plants is crucial, the task is not too easy. You would have to remember several factors in order to ensure the healthy growth of your plant.

• Sterilise your pruning tools before use. Just like in the case of using surgical tools on humans, not sterilising the pruning tools might get germs and other harmful organisms into the cuts.
• It is highly advisable to use sharp pruning tools. Blunt ones would shred the branches, which would destroy the beauty of the plant. Moreover, blunt tools would result in larger cuts which are hard for the plant to heal and more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
• You need to prune your plants at the right time. Generally, flowering plants should be pruned in winter or spring and shrubs need to be pruned right after the flowering season. You may seek expert help to know the right time to prune your plants.

There are three primary pruning methods that you might be interested in. Each of these techniques is suited to a specific purpose.

• Reducing cuts: This technique would come handy when you need to control the height of your plant. It involves reducing the larger branches and facilitating the growth of the lateral branches. As a result, the plants get a bushy look while staying low in height.
• Thinning cuts: Thinning is a useful pruning technique often used to lower the density of the foliage by removing certain branches. Lowering the density allows more sunlight to reach the interior parts of the plant and facilitates healthy growth.
• Heading cuts: Heading cuts involves trimming away the growing parts of the shoot. This result in the growth of new buds and thicker foliage around the cuts. You may use this technique if you aim to develop rich foliage within a small space.

As you may see, pruning is a complex technique which involves high precision and various techniques. While pruning of plants is necessary for their healthy growth, doing it wrong might harm your plants. You might want to hire professional pruning services occasionally to get your plants and shrubs pruned by experts who can choose the right techniques and implement them.