Time Of Pruning

The particular time of the year for pruning is not

vital. As between summer and winter pruning, winter is to be preferred

because of the physical effect on the tree. Summer pruning is an

unnatural process and should only be practiced as a last resort to

check growth or induce fruitfulness, as it may result in injury to the

tree. It is essential that a tree mature its foliage, which it

frequently does not do after summer pruning. Diseased, dead, or

injured wood should be removed when first observed, summer or winter.



Spring is the logical and usually the most convenient time to prune on

the general farm. While dormant season pruning may be done at any

time between November 1st and June 1st, the cuts heal more rapidly in

the spring when the sap begins to flow. In regions subject to severe

and drying winds in the winter, pruning should be deferred at least to

late winter. Considered from every standpoint, March and April are

quite the best months in which to prune. After the removal of useless

branches, the normal amount of food material is delivered to fewer

buds under greater sap pressure and the remaining buds are made more

strong and vigorous.



In removing small branches with a knife or other cutting tool, the cut

should be made upward from below and opposite a bud. On upright

growing varieties the last bud left should be an outside one to induce

the tree to spread as much as possible, while on spreading trees

leaving as the last bud an inside one has a tendency to make the tree

grow more upright. Always cut close to the parent branch, never

leaving a stub no matter how young or old the tree.



Cuts of lateral branches should be made just at the shoulder of the

branch where it joins the parent. A cut behind the shoulder will not

heal, neither will one too far ahead of it. A stub left on a trunk or

large branch does not heal, but soon begins to rot at the end where

the heartwood is exposed. This gradually works back into the main

branch and the tree finally becomes "rotten at the heart." All that is

needed to complete the destruction is a heavy wind, an ice or a snow

storm, or a heavy load of fruit.



All wounds more than two inches in diameter should be painted either

with a heavy lead paint, which is preferable, or with some gas tar

preparation. These things do not in themselves heal a cut, but they

keep out the decaying elements, air and moisture, thus helping to

preserve the branch and by protecting it to promote healing in

nature's way. A little lamp black will serve to deaden the color of

the paint.