On the Mirai live seasonal videos, Ryan prunes a Linden in the spring fundamentals video and in the winter preparation video he pruned another deciduous tree in basically the same manner (ie both deciduous are in the development stage so the goal is improving branching and ramification. He is pruning coarse growth back to two buds). Is there a difference in pruning a deciduous tree in the winter after its lost all its leaves and pruning in spring before buds break? It seems preferable to prune after leaves fall and all energy is in the roots vs when the sugars & carbos begin pushing in the early spring.
Deciduous pruning winter vs spring
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Velodog2
Chumono
I’m following and waiting for an answer from someone who may know myself. Your logic makes sense to me, but it seems many prefer spring pruning. I pruned a couple maples in fall last year and was disappointed by the back budding in spring. Walter Pall just stated he does all his detail work on deciduous now, implying fall pruning. Perhaps in the end it doesn’t matter particularly much. Will see what others think I hope.
It also seems like it could be the same thing: winter pruning and early spring pruning as there isn’t really much foliar activity and minimal vascular activity taking place in between the two points in time. But that logic could be off too haha I’m a bit lost
Soldano666
Omono
Winter protection may play a big roll in this. I pruned a couple privet and pear last winter and suffered severe die back. The crabs did just fine. I will now wait til the very tail end of winter if not already spring before even thinking about it. With any luck ill time it just as buds think about swelling... I too would like to hear what other say on the matter
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
I'm with that.
Unless you need room in storage....
Or got JM's....
Best to think about it all winter.
Sorce
Velodog2
Chumono
Looking back at other threads this seems to be the general consensus, that pruning just as buds swell is preferred, including for Japanese maples.
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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I prune at both times, but I'm moving more toward working D trees in the fall. My winters are relatively mild and short- even though it was 35F in my yard this am with frost- and the trees seem to pop earlier ever year. Back in the day when I lived in the frigid plains of Southeastern MA, I'd prune in the spring. Location, location, location...and a greenhouse... your mileage may vary
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Zach Smith
Omono
I only do light pruning in fall, mostly to make the winter silhouettes look nicer. Otherwise, it's late winter-early spring.
AlainK
Imperial Masterpiece
Funny, just had a question from a club member today about when is the best time to repot/prune Malus (apple, crab apple).
Don't have a definite opinion, but from conversations on French forums a couple of years ago:
After leaf fall, there is still some sap activity. Pruning in autumn usually means more dormant buds to appear, which I find logical: the energy that is still produced, instead of being dispatched on a branch with say 3,4,5... internodes will concentrate lower down. Like all living beings, a tree "wants" to survive, so it will produce more buds on a section that was pruned.
Think of trees that can be cut down leaving no branches, like you can do with an elm or a zelkova that you want to style as a "broom" (hokidachi). : new buds will form at the cut. It's the same kind of logics. Or when you defoliate a Ficus : the best chance to have it backbud is to cut off the tip of the branches, otherwise all the energy will only allow the branch to grow further.
A crappy Zelkova I planted in the ground instaed of binning it, 3 years later (still a crappy Zelkova, but it just shows it works
):
It might sound off-topic, but I think it's relevant, it is related to the cultivation/cycle of trees and how to understand, or at least pay attention to, how it works so that we do the right thing at the right time according to the goal pursued
Don't have a definite opinion, but from conversations on French forums a couple of years ago:
After leaf fall, there is still some sap activity. Pruning in autumn usually means more dormant buds to appear, which I find logical: the energy that is still produced, instead of being dispatched on a branch with say 3,4,5... internodes will concentrate lower down. Like all living beings, a tree "wants" to survive, so it will produce more buds on a section that was pruned.
Think of trees that can be cut down leaving no branches, like you can do with an elm or a zelkova that you want to style as a "broom" (hokidachi). : new buds will form at the cut. It's the same kind of logics. Or when you defoliate a Ficus : the best chance to have it backbud is to cut off the tip of the branches, otherwise all the energy will only allow the branch to grow further.
A crappy Zelkova I planted in the ground instaed of binning it, 3 years later (still a crappy Zelkova, but it just shows it works
): It might sound off-topic, but I think it's relevant, it is related to the cultivation/cycle of trees and how to understand, or at least pay attention to, how it works so that we do the right thing at the right time according to the goal pursued
augustine
Chumono
I discussed this with a friend that is a very accomplished bonsai practitioner. After many years of both ways he does spring pruning, for deciduous, to avoid die back. Now as stated above I'm sure some species,(like the crabs) tolerate it well.
Personally I don't have the experience to know which is which so I follow my friend's advice.
I should add that my area, while the winters are not normally too severe, can get very cold. I would be much more inclined if I lived in a warmer place like N. GA.
Personally I don't have the experience to know which is which so I follow my friend's advice.
I should add that my area, while the winters are not normally too severe, can get very cold. I would be much more inclined if I lived in a warmer place like N. GA.
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