Abstract

FLEMER, WILLIAM III. 1989. Correcting pruning mistakes. Ground Maintenance 24(6): 10-1 2, 14, 16, 20-21.

Too many grounds managers and landscape maintenance firms inherit trees and shrubs that have been improperly pruned by their predecessors. Ideally, plantings should be designed so that remedial pruning can be kept at a minimum. Some problems with ill-tended landscape planting can be solved by corrective pruning and some cannot. Whether better pruning will be effective depends upon the kind of plant that is in bad condition. Deciduous trees and shrubs regenerate much more quickly than broadleaf evergreens and, in most cases, they look quite presentable after the first season’s growth following a severe pruning. There are borderline cases when it is hard to decide whether a big, old tree should be cut back and shaped, or felled and replaced with a younger tree. There are no hard-and-fast rules. It depends on the condition of the tree. One of the most common shrub pruning mistakes is cutting them into globe or umbrella shapes with hedging shears. If long-time poor pruning has created ornamental shapes that are expensive to maintain, the best solution is to cut deciduous shrubs to the ground, leaving 4-in. stubs from which new canes can regenerate.

• © 1990, International Society of Arboriculture. All rights reserved.