Pruning ornamental trees and shrubs at your Haymarket, Gainesville, or Warrenton, VA home is one of the best things you can do for these landscape elements. It is these ornamental trees and shrubs on your property that are often showpieces with beautiful blooms and foliage. By performing proper ornamental tree pruning, you’ll ensure that you get the most out of them. That’s because proper pruning promotes thicker foliage and more profuse blooms.
Of course, we know that many people are intimidated by pruning small ornamental trees, and for good reason. Improper pruning can cause damage and even prevent your tree from blooming that season.
That’s why we’re talking about how to trim a small tree on your Northern Virginia property and ensure that it’s done right.
Why is Pruning Important?
Before we dive into how to trim a small tree or shrub, let’s talk a little bit more about why it’s important. As we mentioned above, pruning is a service that helps promote the overall health of your trees and shrubs. While it’s often thought of in terms of aesthetics (cleaning up a tree or shrub makes it look less unruly or messy), there are also significant health benefits that will accompany pruning.
Proper pruning will help your trees and shrubs to grow better. This is because you’re removing dead, dying, diseased, or decaying material from the plant which is using up a lot of its energy. When you do this, you allow your plant to perform better overall.
This can come with a number of benefits. As we mentioned above, it can help stimulate flowering and promote foliage growth. But it can also help to prevent diseases from spreading. When you remove old or diseased growth, you literally cut off a problem that could spread to the rest of your plant.
Now that you have a better understanding of why you should be pruning, let’s look at some of the key tips for pruning small ornamental trees and shrubs. It’s important that this service is performed properly or you won’t gain the benefits that we’ve talked about. In fact, you could actually do more harm than good.
Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs at the Right Time
One of the first things that homeowners should remember is that timing is important when it comes to proper pruning. We find that many people assume they can go out on one weekend and prune everything at once. But you may have plants on your property that have a very specific timeline for when they can be pruned.
Azaleas and Rhododendrons, for instance, only have a four- to a six-week window when pruning is appropriate. After that window, these shrubs begin to set buds for a new season and if you prune them too late, you’ll ruin their flowering ability.
Understanding when to prune is very plant-specific. You do need some horticultural knowledge to make the right choices and prevent injuring your plants from improper pruning timing.
When Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs, Making the Proper Cuts is Critical
Pruning is all about making selective cuts that will benefit the overall health of your tree or shrub. The idea is to prune off dead, dying, diseased, or decaying material. Pruning should not mean going in and just cutting everything. The cuts should be deliberate and targeted. 
While some trees and shrubs will tolerate an aggressive prune, others could be severely damaged. Improper pruning can also cause insect or disease trouble for your trees and shrubs.
In terms of those cuts that were made, we also get questions surrounding what to do with the clippings. Wrap a tarp around the bottom of the tree or shrub so that you’re not making a huge mess during the pruning process. With the tarp collecting your clippings, you can easily drag all of the debris away without leaving a mess behind.
Ornamental Tree Pruning Requires the Right Tools
Pruning with the right tools is also essential. We know that it can be tempting to go out and prune all of your trees and shrubs with the same gas- or battery-powered shears. But you may have delicate trees and shrubs on your property that will be harmed with this type of equipment.
There are many plants that require hand pruning.
If you want to know more about the right tools for pruning, you can read the article above. But it’s important to recognize that your pruning toolbox should ideally have a number of different pieces of equipment.
Here’s an overview of what tools will serve you best
- Pruning shears are best for branches between ¼ and ½ of an inch
- Lopping shears can be used for larger branches
- Hedge shears are not for pruning but rather for shaping. These would be utilized if you have a plant that you want “hedged,” such as a boxwood. Many homeowners like their boxwoods hedged into a formal shape
It’s important to recognize that a single plant may require more than one tool for proper pruning depending on different branch sizes. In addition, you also need to consider the condition of your tools so that you make a clean cut. Dull shears will make a jagged cut which can hurt the plant and make it difficult to “heal” from that cut. This can lead the plant prone to disease or pest problems.
When to Leave Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs to the Pros
As you come to understand what is involved with pruning ornamental trees and shrubs, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed. While we certainly aren’t claiming that the process is rocket science, there’s more involved than most people tend to realize. As a result, it’s common that homeowners would prefer to leave this service to landscape professionals.
Of course, it’s important to recognize that even some “pros” may perform pruning incorrectly. Not all landscaping companies employ team members who have a strong horticultural background and this is truly key when it comes to having this service performed correctly.
Here are some questions that you can ask a landscape professional if you want to ensure that they’re skilled at pruning.
- How will you alter your pruning schedule based upon the types of ornamental trees and shrubs I have on my property?
- Do you perform any hand pruning? What trees or shrubs on my property may require hand pruning?
- What trees and shrubs on my property need to be pruned and at what times of the year?
A landscape professional’s knowledge and ability to explain the answers to these questions will give you some great insight into what professional pruning ornamental trees and shrubs will go like at your property.
Choosing Rock Water Farm for Your Pruning Needs
While we know that there are plenty of landscape maintenance companies that do not have a high level of pruning expertise, this is something that we take pride in at Rock Water Farm. Understanding a plant’s needs comes with many years of horticultural background and hands-on experience and we employ professionals that have just that.
If you have small ornamental trees or shrubs on your property and you want to feel confident that they’ll be pruned properly so that you can enjoy them to the fullest, we’re here to help. We’ll ensure that your trees and shrubs receive optimal care so that they can continue to be a beautiful addition to your Northern Virginia landscape.
If you’re looking for a professional company that can handle proper pruning at your Haymarket, Gainesville, or Warrenton, VA home, talk to an expert, choose a solution that rocks, and get ready to enjoy your landscape to the fullest.
