I recently received this question from Wendy in Wisconsin, I have a 15 yr. old sargent crab apple, multi-trunked, planted 6 ft. from the house, under a large window 8 ft. from the ground. The hope was the tree wouldn't grow beyond 8 ft. in height, but it’s now more like 10 ft.…Last year, because the tree had grown above the bottom of the window, I pruned the ends of all the top branches (i.e. shortened the tree)… This year there is vigorous new growth (3-4 ft., with multiple branches from … [Read more...]
Three aesthetic pruning cuts
Last post, I discussed two goals of aesthetic pruning that I consider when pruning. Those being to make the tree smaller and also appear older. The first goal is probably not that surprising. Pruning is often used to control the size of plants. The other goal of making a tree appear to be older than it is, is probably a little more novel to most people. … [Read more...]
Aesthetic pruning goals for your garden sanctuary
Two aesthetic pruning goals come to mind when I am asked the following question: "How do you know what branch to cut?" That is the most frequent question I am asked when I am pruning anything at the garden. I can usually complete the sentence for them after the first three words. My usual smart alack response is "Well, the first one I cut off is the dead one." Probably not the most helpful I know, but it is actually true. There is a sequence of different types of branches to prune … [Read more...]
