A question of pruning

[Smiles Jr.]

I would like to know the general consensus of pruning a newly planted tree. I purchased and planted 2 white flowering dogwood and 2 flowering crab apple trees a few weeks ago. One of the dogwoods is beautifully shaped and about 3 ft. tall. The other 3 trees are taller (5 to 6 ft. tall) and quite leggy. I have heard that immediately after planting any tree you should trim approx. 1/4 to 1/3 of the height. But I have also been taught that some kinds of trees should not be pruned as this is basically "topping" the tree and the main trunk will be ruined.

Please give me your "expert" advise. Should I prune the leggy ones or allow nature to do it's thing without my help?

 

[thistlebloom]

Don't prune it Smiles. Let your trees get established, they need all that leaf area to produce root and top growth. Severe pruning of young trees can be debilitating or at least dwarfing to young trees.
Next year you can remove a few badly placed branches to achieve a better scaffold, but IMO you should wait to do anything more than removing dead, diseased, or broken branches until the second or third year.
You're right about the old practice of topping newly transplanted young trees. It was thought that removing the top compensated for the amount of root lost during transplant, instead it's been found that leaving the tree whole produces a bigger, better root system.
It sounds like you've got yourself some beautiful landscape trees!
I love the flowering dogwoods, and am hoping for some blooms from mine this year. We have a moose that likes to prune for us, and I have yet to see it in flower :/.

 

[patandchickens]

Definitely don't do "kneejerk pruning" of the type your books are referring to, CERTAINLY NOT on trees whose main trunk and overall form you want to preserve.

For something you WANT to split out and not have a single main trunk, then yes, you will need to do that and in some cases it's quite reasonable to do that when planting (for instance if they're bareroot fruit trees that you want to train into a reasonable shape for easy harvesting, and they arrive to you not-yet-leafed-out and in good condition).

If you really can't live with the growth form of "the other three" trees, and are ok with most-likely losing the single trunk, then you could do *minimal* top pruning if you really feel you must. But think hard about it, as it has "forever" ramifications and there is no undo button. Don't think about what the trees look like now... envision them in ten years' time. Will their current form, if they continue to grow without topping, be acceptable THEN? If so, leave 'em alone. If not, I guess you can take a bit off the top if you really want (probably better now than later, as long as they are in really good health -- if they're Walmart type plants or are potbound or otherwise stressed, next early-spring might be a better time).

But honestly it is a lot better idea IMO to just ONLY buy trees whose existing architecture you like. The really weird shaped nursery ones you all-too-often see at garden centers are never going to be as attractive specimens no matter what you do. Hopefully that's not your situation; I'm just saying, there is a limit to how much you can change a tree's basic architecture that's set in its first few years of growth.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[journey11]

I'd never heard that before, and I don't prune mine at planting either. Usually takes me a year of staring at it to figure out what needs to come off anyway.

 

[patandchickens]

I'm not sure the advice to cut TREES back was ever common/widespread, at least among serious gardeners.

For SHRUBS however that was the common expert advice from at *least* maybe the 50s into the 80s or 90s. Shrubs of course are much, much less affected in their growth form by doing this. Although it can still set their growth/survival back.

Pat

 

[vfem]

I only prune my newer fruit trees now because I left them alone the first year. The first year you should let them get comfortable and let them become good and rooted. Then next year while they're still dormant only prune badly developed branches, anything that looks damaged.... or spots you think are too heavily branched. Very minor cutting.

Everyone is right, pruning no, and heavily, will not help your plants but most likely stunt the growth. :/

 

[Jared77]

I only prune my newer fruit trees now because I left them alone the first year. The first year you should let them get comfortable and let them become good and rooted. Then next year while they're still dormant only prune badly developed branches, anything that looks damaged.... or spots you think are too heavily branched. Very minor cutting.

Agreed thats what I do.

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm not sure the advice to cut TREES back was ever common/widespread, at least among serious gardeners.



Pat

I have some very old arborist texts and horticultural encyclopedias
( like over 100 years old ) and that is indeed what the recommendation used to be. The theory was that root growth was so slow that you gave the tree a chance to thrive by lopping off part of the canopy.
Fortunately that practice has been shown to be damaging and isn't recommended by professional arborists now.
Interesting how a lot of techniques in the old guides have fallen by the way.