Do You Need to Prune Evergreens? You don’t need to prune any plant. Evergreens aren’t any exception. Many evergreens have a unique shape that keeps them beautiful with no pruning at all. This fact is why it’s critical to know when to trim evergreen bushes.
The Importance of Knowing When to Trim Evergreen Bushes
There are a couple of cases where trimming evergreen trees could be worth your while. As with any plant, tree professionals suggest you trim broke, diseased, or dead limbs. Disease in any branch can swiftly spread throughout the tree. A dead limb is an encouragement for bugs and diseases.
The usual reason to trim evergreens from an artistic point of view is to have a fuller plant. A little amount of pruning at the appropriate time could provide a healthier, thicker plant, which may be quite gorgeous. It’s effortless to destroy the shape of evergreen by pruning at the wrong time or over-trimming.
You can prune most evergreens. However, they react differently from other plants. You have to know what type of evergreen you are working with and the best way to prune it.
While pruning, many plants keep their shape in check. This task isn’t easy to do with evergreens since several grow from a central leader. Avoid such procedures as topping a tree by slicing off the top part of the trunk. Trimming back this middle stem will diminish the plant’s height, but the perimeter will keep filling out, giving you a peculiarly shaped tree.
Another terrible pruning procedure is climbing up an evergreen or getting rid of the lower limbs because you need the area beneath it. You are way better off studying the growth habit of your tree and planting one that won’t get too big for the space you have.
When to Prune
Pruning for many evergreens takes place in dormant in the early springtime before new growth begins, just as new growth is beginning or semi-dormant in the middle of the summer. Early spring is desirable since the new development will rapidly appear.
The new growth on evergreens is known as candles because the branch tips take the shape of candles. Slicing the candle tips back halfway, before the needles develop, helps the tree have a compact body.
Candling has to happen between the end of March to the middle of May, contingent on the weather and the area.
Never trim when the needles have opened entirely, or you might end up with an odd-shaped plant since most evergreens can’t replenish their growing tips.
The Rule of Thirds is a common rule of trimming that also applies to evergreens: never remove over 1/3 of a tree. Getting rid of too much growth at one time is very traumatic to a tree. The plant will take a good while to recover.
You can also get expert help for your evergreen trees at Durham Tree Service. Call us and explore your options.
