After visiting Japana few years ago, myperspective on prun-

ing certainly changed. From acountry where virtually everyornamental tree is prunedseverely, for cultural, artistic and spacereasons, we can learn many things abouttrimming trees.

One of our biggest mistakes in land-scaping is allowing trees to grow untilthey become so large they are overpower-ing. Overgrown trees are difficult to pruneback hard and yet still keep them lookingattractive.

It’s also difficult to prune back newlandscape plants, especially when you’rewanting your trees to grow quickly andfill in. I’m afraid, however, it is somethingthat must be done.

Many people hesitate to prune an ever-green because they are afraid of ruiningthe tree. Its shape can certainly be dis-torted by incorrect pruning, but seldom isthe tree destroyed. Experimenting with afew trees in your landscape is one of thebest ways to learn, and mistakes can usu-ally be corrected. Armed with a little basicinformation and common sense, anyonecan prune their landscape plants.

Timing, however, is everything. Thebest time to begin pruning most ever-greens is now. Evergreens or conifers arethe easiest of all trees to prune. Tall grow-ing cedars and cypress can be pruned withquality, sharp two-handed grass shearsfor light trimming, or with electric ormotorized hedge shears for heavy going.Simply prune following the natural shapeof the tree. Columnar cedars, such as‘smaragds’ and ‘pyramidalis’, should bepruned in narrow columns, and trees likeGolden Cedars and Green Cypress shouldbe pruned in a little wider pyramidalform for the ultimate effect in a landscape.Their tops can be cut off at any height.Their sides must be sheared yearly tomaintain an attractive form. The secret tomaintaining good colour and new growthis to prune into the soft wood of last year’sgrowth. Cutting into the old hard wood

results in rather shaggy-looking trees.Globular shrubs, like Globe Cedars andthe beautiful, compact Hetz Midget cedar,should be pruned in the same manner.Ground cover plants, like junipers, shouldbe pruned hard each year to maintain anattractive oval form. So often they are al-lowed to sprawl unevenly over the groundwith huge branches jutting out here andthere. When you try to cut back theseovergrown plants, it is almost impossibleto avoid leaving a woody-looking, unat-tractive stump. If you find a great deal of‘browning out’ on your junipers, applycopper spray now to control this problem.All ground covers need an annual trim-ming when they are young to encouragean even, full and attractive growth pat-tern.

Boxwood and privet hedges need twotrimmings a year to keep them lookingneat. Prune them now and again the firstweek in July. Trim rather vigourously, oth-erwise they will quickly get away on you.To keep your boxwood green, add a littledolomite lime now.

Fir, spruce and pine are the exceptionsto dormant conifer pruning. Becausespruce and fir send out growth from budsthat pop in April and May, it is best toprune them after the buds have openedand the new growth has just begun. Indoing so, you allow the soft new woodenough time to develop buds for nextyear’s growth pattern. The same is truefor pines. The growth candles at the tipof every branch must sprout and developbefore any pruning takes place. Cut thenew candles in half when you prune, andit will result in a fuller, more compactplant. Unless you live in a very large land-scaped area, all spruce and pines shouldbe pruned narrow and hard to maintain aform that is both appropriate and attrac-tive in smaller landscapes. Dwarf Mughopines should be pruned in a low domeshape for the most pleasing effect.

Over the past 30 years, we’ve learned somuch at our gardens about pruning ev-ergreens. One of the most important les-sons has been in order to keep the size oftrees in proportion to the landscape andto maintain their beauty far longer, theyneed an annual pruning.

REVIEWHomeRSRE owcaseEVIEWProper pruningdoes a garden goodIN THE GARDEN Brian Minter

www.tricitynews.com Tri-City News Friday, February 4, 2011, A35

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*The developer reserves the right to make modifications to the information contained herein. Photographs and renderings are representational only and may not be accurate. Some conditions and additional requirements within the deposit structure apply. Please see a Grand Central sales representative for details. E.&O.E.

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