Pruning during the growing season also has a greater risk of spreading diseases and may cause unwanted flushes of growth. Avoid pruning shrubs in winter that will bloom in spring. You'll be cutting off the flower buds that would provide the spring show.
Trees also heal more quickly when pruned before spring bud break. Avoid pruning in fall. Pruning cuts can stimulate new growth that, unfortunately, will be killed as temperatures drop to freezing.
Did you know that if you prune too late in the season, you stimulate new growth, which will not have time to harden off before the first frost, which will be coming soon to our neck of the woods. This can weaken and damage the plant, so its best to leave the pruning until spring.
Pruning Too Early
If you prune too early in the season, there's a good chance you'll snip the buds right off their branches, which means no flowers in the spring. Before you cut, do a little research, like with our pruning guide, or just wait to trim until the plant has finished blooming for the year.
The best time to prune is after flowering. If the plant needs to be renovated, or severely reduced, this can be done late winter and early spring just before growth begins. Remove old flowers (deadhead) and cut back to healthy outward facing buds.
Similarly, avoid trimming summer flowering shrubs before they have flowered and wait to do so until after they have finished flowering. Non-flowering shrubs can be trimmed at any point in the summer to shape them or to reduce their size, but remember that regrowth will be slow during hot, dry, and stressful conditions.
Pruning less of the plant but more frequently is by far the best for the overall health of it. We recommend every other month, which comes out to be five times per year. This is the sweet spot for pruning and will help keep everything looking and performing its best.
Late summer or early fall pruning causes vigorous re-growth of tissue, which in some cases may not harden off by the time winter arrives, leading to possible cold damage to the new growth.
An improper cut like a flush cut (cutting too close to the trunk) or a stub cut (cutting too far from the trunk) can cause irreversible damage to a tree. A flush cut removes the branch collar and leaves a large wound in the side of the tree that won't heal properly.
If you need to drastically reduce the size of a shrub or tree, it's often best to look at it as a long-term project, cutting off no more than a third at one time and giving it plenty of time to recover between pruning sessions.
Any gardening expert will tell you, (contrary to what you may believe) that pruning encourages new growth just when the plant is trying to go dormant and new growth doesn't have enough time to harden before the first frost and freezing temperatures hit. Pruning at this time of year will severely weaken the plants.
Few plants are pruned this time of year because pruning encourages new growth that does not have time to harden off before winter. Late-season pruning typically does more harm than good.
While pruning, avoid cutting too close to the node as it can get damaged. However, don't leave more than 1 cm above the nodes. It can compromise the shape of your plant. While pruning, you need to use good-quality pruning tools.
Overgrown trees can pose a serious risk to your property and your family. Dead or damaged branches can fall and cause damage to your home or car or even injure someone. In addition, overgrown trees can block sunlight and views and can even damage foundations or driveways.
Pruning during the growing season always stimulates new growth. During summer's heat, having to produce that ill-timed new flush of growth greatly stresses a tree. Pruning in the fall is even worse as it prevents the tree from going into a natural dormancy. The exception is heavily damaged, disease or dead wood.
How to Fix an Over-Pruned Tree or Shrub. While some plants need a heftier prune than others, in general, the golden rule is to trim no more than 15 to 20 percent of a tree's canopy at one time. Keep that in mind for next time.
After a tree is topped, it grows back rapidly in an attempt to replace its missing leaves. Leaves are needed to manufacture food for the tree. Without new leaves, the tree will die. The new branches that sprout up below the cuts will continue to grow quickly until they reach the same size it was before it was topped.
Pruning in August improves plant form just ahead of fall's growth spurt. Light shaping now will look beautiful after new fall growth arrives in the weeks ahead. Note: Plants should be well watered in the days ahead of pruning. Those that are experiencing drought stress should not be pruned.
As a general rule, prune spring-blooming trees immediately after they flower. Prune trees that bloom in the summer or fall in late winter or early spring before the end of their dormancy. Routine pruning of dead or dying branches can be done at any time.
Never shear a shrub in fall (or ever, actually, but that's another article) and leave major pruning or renovation for late winter/early spring, or immediately after bloom for spring-flowering shrubs.
Choose the Right Time
Likewise, prune in the early morning or late afternoon to avoid the newly cut ends of branches becoming scorched by the hot sun. Wait 48 hours after rain to prune, to allow plants to dry out and avoid fungal diseases. When pruning, make cuts just above leaf nodes, or buds.
Rejuvenation pruning is typically done only every three to five years, usually when the shrub starts to look overgrown or stops flowering. Cutting off all the stems and leaves is a huge stressor to the plant so it's best not to do it too often.
Winter is usually the best time.
Dormant pruning is usually done in late winter, six to 10 weeks before the average last frost in your area. You can prune shrubs at any time of year if it's necessary—for example, to remove broken branches or dead or diseased wood, or to remove growth that is obstructing a walkway.
Summer pruning is best done in August-September, when the majority of branches have set a terminal bud.
If you've got a fruit tree, summer pruning will promotes more blossoms (and more fruit!) the following spring. Fruit will mature better in sunlight, so allowing air and sun to reach the fruit will boost its size and sweetness.