alan’s pruning guide

Deciduous
ornamental trees
If a tree is growing well,
is not casting too much
shade, is shapely and within
bounds, leave it alone. If it’s
a Japanese maple, leave it
alone. And if it’s a magnolia,
leave it alone – unless you’re
happy to have a butchered
monstrosity that shouldn’t
have been planted there in
the first place. Sorry, bit of
a sore point… butchered
magnolias make me fume.
If you must do it, cut out one
or two stems entirely rather
than chopping them back.
Other trees that have
misplaced branches or
odd ones growing out at
an angle can be pruned into
shape now, and any dead
branches removed.
If you want to lift the
crown of the tree to allow
more light in beneath it,
remove some of the lower
branches completely, cutting
back quite close (but not
flush) with the main trunk.
Leave a ‘knuckle’ of growth,
which will callus over more
quickly than a flush cut.
Trees grown for their
ornamental foliage can be
lightly trimmed all over, but
be wary of creating lollipops.

Apple and pear trees

These deserve more
attention than they generally
get. Don’t be tempted to prune
them into neat domes, but do
reduce any long shoots to keep
them within the canopy. Thin
out the branch framework to
encourage air circulation.
Remove any crossing stems
that are rubbing on others.
The leading (dominant) shoot
can be cut back by a third, and
fruiting spurs, rather than a
mass of vigorous green shoots.
Trained trees – espaliers and
cordons – are best pruned in
summer when the sideshoots
should be shortened to finger
length, but you can cut out
any unwanted stems now.
Above all, don’t be frightened
of having a go at pruning apples
and pears. The temptation is
to leave them alone and hope
PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; TIM SANDALL

sideshoots shortened by half, so for the best, but they’ll fruit

you end up with a well-spaced far more productively and
framework of healthy branches be healthier with regular
and an increasing number of annual pruning.

VISIT gardenersworld.com/pruning for lots NEXT MONTH Alan shows how to get your
more tips on pruning all kinds of plants onions off to a great start

84 gardenersworld.com December 2020