Pruning Clinics Today and Tomorrow

By Jos Van Hage

Now that we are officially into Spring and the weather seems to agree, it is time to start doing those early spring chores.

Prince George has many areas where the snow is gone and trees and shrubs are beginning to show a sign of life which means that it is coming to that time of year when the pruners come out of the workshop and begin to do their work.

Most deciduous trees and shrubs are pruned in early spring when you see the buds begin to swell. The exception to this would be any early blooming shrubs that bloom first before they get their leaves such as lilac, forsythia, purple leaf sand cherry, and the double flowering cherry which are pruned after they have bloomed. These are pruned after they bloom because this year’s blooms were already set last year, so if you were to prune them in early spring you would be pruning off many of the flowers.

The other exceptions would be Maples, Birch and Walnut trees. If you were to prune these trees in early spring you could potentially kill them or seriously set them back, and this is because the sap is already running on these so if you were to prune them the sap would run out of them causing serious harm.

Birch, Maple and Walnut are pruned in early July and I always suggest first pruning a small thin branch and checking for the sap and if there is no sap then you know it is safe to continue pruning. If you cannot prune these in July the other time would be in November/December after the first cold snap.

Do not prune deciduous trees and shrubs just because you see the neighbor pruning them. Not all trees and shrubs need to be pruned on a yearly basis. Any dead, damaged or diseased branches should be removed up to where there is healthy growth.

It is important to disinfect your pruners with a mild solution of bleach and water so as not to spread the disease after each cut if you are removing diseased branches. The later flowering shrubs are pruned to promote new growth which is where the flowers will come from. Also by removing some of the oldest growth encourages new shoots which tend to be more colorful in the case of ‘Red twig dogwood’ and it opens up the center of the plant.

Flowering shrubs are also pruned to keep a nice shape.

Deciduous trees do not always need pruning. Any branches that cross over each other or brush against another branch should be removed.

If the tree has uneven growth you may want to correct this by pruning to stimulate new growth on the weaker side, and tip prune on the stronger side. On any tree the suckers should be removed as they only take away energy from the tree and do not produce.

Do not prune if you are not sure as you can cause much more damage than good. Ask for advice or have a qualified person do it for you.

After you have done all the pruning spray the deciduous trees and shrubs with ‘Lime Sulfur and Dormant Oil’ as this will kill most overwintering insects and fungus, which is important for healthy tree or shrub care, especially now as it is getting harder to treat problems that arise.  This must be done before the tree/shrub breaks into leaf and the weather must be dry and above freezing for 48 hours, so watch the weather reports before applying. 

Trees and shrubs that were wrapped with burlap or string should have this removed now as you do not want any unwanted fungus to appear due to the warming temperatures and poor air circulation.

The Annual Tree Pruning Clinic is today (Saturday March 27) at 10:00 a.m. and Sunday March 28, at 1:30 p.m. Both of these clinics are being held at Art Knapp Plantland Hwy 16 West (Kimball Rd) location. They will run for approximately 2 hours with a question period at the end. It would be a good idea to attend if you want to learn about pruning or get a brush up course on it.

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns and operates two Art Knapp Home and Garden Centres in Prince George:

• Highway 16 West at Kimball Road
• Highway 97 North at  Northwood Pulpmill Road

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