What decorative shrubs are pruned in the spring. Pruning ornamental shrubs in spring: video

Shrub care includes one of important elements - pruning. This is enough hard workrequiring knowledge of agricultural technology of the corresponding breed of tree or berry shrub. Of course, when pruning, they attach to the bush desired shape, broken or diseased branches are removed, but its main purpose is not this. In shrubs, if they are not cut in time, yield decreases over time, the quality of the fruit worsens, the frequency of fruiting changes, and winter hardiness decreases.

When to cut shrubs best

The period from late January to early April is considered traditional for trimming. The timing of its implementation depends on the type of vegetation and weather, which has a fairly significant effect on the condition of plants. Since weather conditions cannot be accurately predicted, it is also impossible to determine a specific date when spring pruning should begin. In different years, the time of this operation is shifted by one and a half, or even two weeks.

Shrubbery Tools

Pruning fruit shrubs carried out with the help of such tools: garden saws (with special sharpening for trimming trees), pruners, delimbers. The secret of a serviceable tool is simple, you must always ensure that the nut is tightened, the spring is lubricated, and cutting edge sharpened (only on one side). After work, wipe the tool with a soft, dry cloth. Saw or pruner must be sharp. Only such a tool makes a smooth, even cut. Than smoother cut, the faster the wound heals on the tree after the "surgical intervention". Watch the location of the secateurs. The blade must be placed in the direction of that part of the branch that remains on the bush. A wound is covered up with garden var if its diameter is 2 or more centimeters. If you cut a large shoot, divide it into parts, it will be easier for you to remove it from the bush, and you will not damage small twigs and buds.

Types of pruning shrubs

By pruning, the gardener can pursue various goals. Accordingly, they distinguish between different types trimming.

Formative. Helps to create a crown of the necessary density and silhouette of a tree. Thanks to it, a properly formed skeletal part acquires resistance to stress. Forming pruning in February makes the growth more intense, and in March-April inhibits the growth process.
Regulatory. It is necessary to maintain the formed crown, helps maintain good illumination of the branches, and prevents overloading the skeletal part with young shoots. Such pruning is relevant in February-April and August-September.
Anti-aging. Allows the old tree to renew, as it stimulates the growth of new branches. If the annual growth of shoots is 10-15 cm, you need to shorten the branches to awaken the accessory and sleeping buds. This should be done in early autumn, late winter and spring.
Recovery. This measure allows affected plants for various reasons to regain the possibility of development, flowering and fruiting.
Sanitary. If the plant contains dry, diseased, broken or damaged branches, they must be removed. This can be done year-round, but not on frosty days. After trimming the diseased shoots, it is necessary to disinfect the tool with alcohol. When sanitary pruning, it is necessary to take into account the size and age of the tree. Very intense work can lead to thickening of the crown.

Simple scheme for pruning fruit bushes

There are a number of rules that will help harmlessly prune shrubs:

Give more light to the bush. Shoots need enough sunlight, so you need to ensure that it gets inside the bushes. A shrub with an age of 4 years should not have more than six shoots. It is important to monitor this, to prevent overgrowth.
Work from the base of the bush. Shoots of five years of age need to be cut, otherwise they will bear fruit poorly. Remove lateral growth of the bush.
Removing such branches contributes to a better clarification of the bush. Very often, lateral growths interfere with sunlight.
Do not leave weak branches. The ability to bear fruit is minimal, they will become an obstacle to the path of sunlight.
It is undesirable to remove the tops of the shoots. The tops are left due to the fact that they form buds that will bring the crop in the future.

The presence of thick kidneys is a sign of the appearance of a tick;
The presence of green tops - poor tolerance of frost;
The presence of twisted leaves is a sign of anthracosis infection.

Beginners need to be careful when cleaning. fruitful shrubs and trim every year. This will prevent the death of the plant.

Features of pruning some berry bushes

Pruning of berry bushes in spring is carried out with the aim of thinning and updating plants, maintaining them regular shape and increased fruiting. However, crop each crop in different ways.

Black currant. In blackcurrant seedlings in the 1st year, all shoots are shortened by 2-4 buds. In the next 5 years they are annually cut out root shoot, leaving only 3-4 powerful branches, until a bush of 15-20 shoots is formed. The tops of these shoots are removed to stimulate tillering. Then, overgrowth is thinned out each year, but depleted branches older than 6 years are also removed. Slices are made flush with the soil so that there are no stumps. On the 10-12th year, the bush is recommended to be planted.
Currants are white and red. Cutting out basal shoots from bushes of white and red currants, they leave 2 of the most promising each year. Moreover, they are shortened up to half so that tillering is more active. From the 10th year (since the branches of white and red currants retain fertility up to 9 years), they begin to clean except basal shoots and sprouting 10-year-old shoots. A properly formed bush should have about 20 branches.
Gooseberry. In the 1st year, annual growths of 2-8 kidneys are cut off from gooseberries. In the 2nd year, annual growths in him shorten to half. In the 3rd and 4th year, all fresh root shoots are removed, with the exception of 3-5 powerful shoots, in which the tops are only pruned. From the 5th year, begin to clean the depleted 5-year-old branches with the extra root shoot. The formation of the bush ends when 15-20 branches are typed in it.
Raspberry. After winter, the frozen tops of raspberries remove the tops to healthy wood. Formative pruning of adult branches is also performed, shortening their lateral growths to enhance tillering and the number of ovaries. Late spring remove all shoots growing at the base of the bushes. And then during the summer they continue to remove root shoots so that it does not weaken the fruiting branches, pulling the nutritious juices onto themselves.

Trimming ornamental shrubs

Trimming Rules Information ornamental shrubs slightly, unlike the fruit segment. To clean up diseased and dead shoots, to restrain excessively rapid growth of the crown, to ensure lush and long flowering, painstaking and serious trimming work is required. For each variety, develop their own methods, taking into account the characteristics of the plant. Conventionally, plants are divided into flowering shrubs and decorative foliage bushes.

Trimming technology for decorative shrubs

Before starting work, you should select unnecessary branches, draw a cropping plan and conduct it in stages, so as not to remove anything superfluous.
On thick branches, a cut is made along the fibers, and on the opposite side, a longitudinal cut is made in the direction of the cut to avoid breaking. This prevents the crease of the cortex and contributes to the rapid healing of the wound.
If the cut is large, it is covered with garden var. The layer must be at least 5 mm so that the wound does not dry out and the infection does not get there.
In adults, two-year-old shrubs, thick old branches are cut out, lowering the density of the central part. Thus, you will extend youth to the plant, as the branches will be renewed.
To improve the intensity of growth and the number of flower buds, periodic cutting of branches through one should be done. It will also help to form a beautiful, dense bush with high decorative qualities.
Decorative hedges are thinned twice a year: in the spring before the sap flow and in the middle of summer, to remove rapidly developing branches and shape. This prevents the appearance of empty gaps, and promotes uniform growth of shoots. For all ornamental shrubs, the rule applies: the more often you cut, the thicker it grows.

1. Why decorative plants need pruning.
2 . Types of pruning trees and shrubs.
3. Duration of trimming.
4. Pruning the main shrubs.

Barberry.
Lilac.
Hydrangea.

5. Cropping decorative trees.

1. Why do ornamental plants need pruning

Pruning ornamental trees and shrubs is very important: for some plants it gives the opportunity to get more large flowers, for others - a chance to increase the duration of flowering or even bloom again. Also, with the help of pruning, beautiful crowns of trees and shrubs are formed and maintain their shape in the future. In addition, it is necessary to prevent excessive growth, as well as to maintain plants in a healthy state.

All trees and shrubs need pruning

2. Types of cropping

Forming Cut used to form crowns, restrain plant growth, stimulate flowering.

Most often crowns ornamental plants give an outwardly rounded shape, without going into the formation of the skeleton. Such pruning is more correctly called a haircut. From the crowns of plants can be cut geometric figures, give them the outlines of various objects or animals. For crowns of complex shape, special frames are usually used that repeat the specified silhouette. Frames are left in the crown for several years while the plant is forming, and sometimes for the whole life of the plant. Trees and shrubs with similar crowns are called topiary.

The formation of a clearly defined skeleton for decorative trees is rarely used - mainly for the removal of trellises, palmettes or cordons.

The formation of shrubs often includes shortening growth (removal of part of the branch) and thinning (removal of excess branches completely).

Sanitary pruning - both on ornamental trees and shrubs - used to remove diseased and damaged branches.

Anti-aging pruning necessary for aging plants that have lost their decorative effect due to age-related changes. The purpose of this procedure is to achieve intensive growth of young shoots, from which a new crown will be formed in the future. Shrubs for rejuvenation are cut "on a stump", that is, leave stumps 5-15 cm high, depending on the type of plant. At the trees, all branches are severely pruned, and in some cases the trunks themselves are also filed.

3. Cropping time

In order not to lose part of the flowering branches when pruning flowering shrubs, it is important to consider their flowering time. Crops that bloom in spring or early summer are pruned immediately after flowering, and blooming in the second half of summer and autumn, early spring, before buds open. Anti-aging pruning is best done in the early spring. And sanitary - at any time, if necessary.

Topiary cut both in spring and summer so that they retain their shape as the shoots grow

4. Pruning the main shrubs

Pruning pruning is reduced to giving the bushes a neat shape, removing thin, dry twigs and fruits. Spring-flowering spirea (s. Argument, s. Gray, s. Alpine, s. Wangutta, s. St. John's wort, s. Nippons, s. Middle, s. Tunberg and others) are pruned after flowering. Summer-flowering (p. Berezolistnaya, p. Bumalda, p. Douglas, p. Loosestrife, p. Japanese and others) - in early spring. In bushes over 3 years old, old trunks must be removed. Once every several years, anti-aging pruning is performed.

In the next video you can see the spring pruning process. summer flowering spire for example, with. Japanese Anthoni Waterer, Little Princess, Magic Carpet, Macrophylla.

Barberry

Barberries keep their shape well, but they quickly accumulate many dry branches, so every spring the bushes must be cleaned. Depending on what is more important (crown shape or flowering), barberries are sheared in spring or summer, and not rarely even several times a season. For old decaying bushes, anti-aging pruning is used. Tall species of barberries look beautiful when forming a raised crown on several trunks. To do this, cut the lower branches, as well as all thin and randomly growing trunks. Leave only 3–7 of the most well-located trunks.

Young shrubbery bushes usually do not require shaping, if you still want to cut them, it is better to do this after flowering. The plant needs to remove the bare dry ends of the branches, which spoil the decorative shrub. Cut them to live wood in summer or autumn, since in spring it is not particularly noticeable that they are dry.

With age, the plant appears old branches, often deviating to the ground. Thin out in early spring until the kidneys awaken ( optimal time) or in autumn, carving at the base or over a strong branch. Such pruning will allow new shoots to grow. Old neglected mock-up bushes require radical anti-aging pruning in spring.

Lilac

Lilacs can be formed by a bush or in the form of a single-barreled or multi-barreled tree. To make the crown look attractive all year round, you need to select several evenly spaced trunks and use them as the basis for the formation of the skeleton. Delete the rest. In the future, annually maintain the shape of the crown, cutting out extra shoots. Lilacs should not be very thickened (this negatively affects flowering), so regularly remove all small, weak and unsuccessfully growing branches. This shrub is extremely durable, so you do not need to rejuvenate it.

When forming standard forms and growing grafted lilacs, it is important to cut the shoots in a timely manner, and this will also help restrain the growth of bush lilacs. Shoots need to be cut in the spring.

After flowering, dry flower stalks are cut so that the plants do not spend their energy on seed formation. This should be done carefully, cutting off the inflorescence of the first leaves located opposite. If desired, you can adjust the shape of the crown at this time by slightly cutting off excessively protruding branches.

Do lilacs do not forget to prune dry flower stalks

Hydrangea

Panicled hydrangea and tree-like hydrotension are cut in the spring, before the leaves unfold. To bloom was plentiful, and inflorescences as large as possible, the bush should consist of a small number of strong solid branches. They need to be greatly shortened, leaving only 3-5 kidneys. Cut out all weak growths.

Also, large-leafed g. Occurs in our gardens, though much less often. It differs from its sisters in that it blooms on last year's shoots. Hence the pruning feature: the branches need to be cut after flowering. And do not cut out completely, but only shorten it to cause the formation of new shoots. In the spring, near the large-leaved, only sanitary pruning is carried out - and then, if absolutely necessary.

You can see with your own eyes how to trim panicle hydrangea in the next video.

5. Trimming decorative trees

Pruning decorative trees is necessary for the formation of the crown, the removal of the stem desired height and further maintaining the given shape. But even if the trees grow freely, it is worthwhile to carry out sanitary pruning every year, remove the branches that intersect and are crossed inward, and also thin out the crown slightly so that it is well purged. Remember: thickening contributes to the development of diseases and pests.

Trees with decorative leaves sometimes appear shoots that do not match this variety (chimera). They should be immediately cut out at the very base to stop the spread of this phenomenon.

Also, trees are often pruned to restrain growth, so that it is convenient to care for them.

Trees should be pruned in early spring, when the danger of frost return is over. It is advisable to complete all trimming work before the buds open.

Proper pruning forms a bush in such a way that each branch gets both light and air for normal fruiting. Autumn pruning frees the bush from sprouting shoots and saves the plant from the need to feed them during the dormant period. However, if for some reason you were unable to trim in October or November, transfer it to late winter or early spring - for the period from the end of January to the beginning of April, when snow will fall and the air temperature, rising at least to -8 ºC, will stay at this level for several days. Do not cut the shrub at a lower temperature, as well as on a day when it snows or rains, and try to finish the procedure by the time the buds begin to bloom on the bushes.

Sanitary pruning is carried out when it becomes necessary, regardless of the time of year.

Pruning berry bushes in winter

Contrary to the claims of many gardeners, pruning in February, if done in necessary conditions and following the rules developed for this procedure does not lead to negative consequences, just like pruning in March. As you know, the beginning of sap flow accelerates the healing of wounds and cuts, especially since at this time there are no leaves or flowers on the bushes, and all the forces of the plants go to the treatment of damage received during pruning. There are practically no other works in the garden in winter, so why not offload your busy spring schedule, by trimming trees and shrubs at the end of winter?

Wait for the right temperature and snowmelt, because in some cases you need to trim the branches of the bush to the very surface of the soil, and proceed to sanitary pruning: remove frosted, mutilated, broken, dried up, diseased branches and pests, and tops and shoots from the bushes. The shoots are removed at the root, and when pruning mature branches, hemp should be left to prevent freezing of tissues at the cut site. In spring, these stumps can be removed. Pruning of bushes is carried out by secateurs and a garden saw.

Pruning fruit bushes in spring

In addition to sanitary pruning, which supports shrub health, shaping or anti-aging pruning may be necessary. Best time pruning, forming a bush - autumn, but you can do this work in the spring, just before the sap flow begins. Each species has its own plant formation scheme, and we will briefly remind you how the pruning of berry bushes, the most popular in amateur gardening, is carried out.

Pruning raspberries in spring

Varieties of raspberries, fruiting once a season, pruned like this:

two-year-old branches, which will no longer bear fruit, are cut to the ground;
from the annual shoots leave 10-12 of the most developed, the rest are removed;
all weak shoots are cut;
the tops of the shoots remaining after trimming are shortened to 2.2-2.5 m, and if the bush is low, then the tops are cut by 10-15 cm.

Bushes of repairing raspberries are cut completely under the root, and it is better to do this in the fall.

Spring black currant pruning

Pruning blackcurrant branches is slightly more complicated than pruning raspberries, as the bush consists of branches different ages, and each branch can actively bear fruit up to five years. Cut black currant according to this scheme:

the number of old branches cut annually should be equal to the number of new branches left from the basal shoots: we cut 3-5 old branches, 3-5 new branches should replace them;
annually it is necessary to cut those branches whose age has reached five years;
when deleting old and unnecessary new branches, make sure that the remaining branches do not interfere with each other, do not cross, do not lie on the ground and are conveniently located.

Pruning red and white currants in spring

Branches of red currant can bear fruit for 7-8 years, but the main crop is formed on branches from 2 to 5 years old. It is necessary to ensure that on the bush, formed from 12-15 branches, there are branches of different ages, otherwise the year may come when you have to cut all the branches. Of the new shoots, 3-4 of the most developed are left annually instead of seven-year-old branches.

Gooseberry pruning in autumn

Gooseberry bushes form almost the same way as currant bushes: there should be 15-20 branches of different ages on the bush. Branches from four to seven years of age give the main crop, therefore, those shoots that have reached the age of seven years, as well as weak and excess shoots of the first year, are cut mainly. Those of the annual shoots that you decide to leave, do not shorten - this will reduce the yield of the bush.

Spring honeysuckle pruning

Of all garden shrubs honeysuckle is the most photophilous, and therefore it requires mandatory annual pruning. In the first years, remove only strong tops and root shoots, but as soon as the bush has gained volume, proceed to thinning the crown. Try to keep the adult bush in the following parameters: height - 2-2.5 m, diameter - from 1.5 to 2.5 m. Short weak shoots, branches that have stopped growing, old, thickening and cross-growing branches are subject to pruning. Pruning old branches can visibly rejuvenate the bush, and if aging has covered most of the crown, cut the entire plant to the base and form a new bush from the root shoot.

Pruning rose hips in spring

Rosehip is not very popular on suburban areas, it's a pity. Its bush attracts the eye with beauty and nobleness, and the buds, leaves, fruits and even roots have healing powers that mankind has used since time immemorial. Rosehip reaches a height of 1 to 3 m, its bushes can be either compact or sprawling. Rosehip is photophilous and demanding on the composition of the soil. After planting, the rosehip seedlings are cut short, leaving 2-3 buds on each branch, after which the plant is cut off for two years. In the third year, they carry out a sanitary pruning of the bush, removing the root offspring, weak, lying on the ground, broken and excess branches, and the strong ones are pruned at a height of 20 cm. When the overgrown new shoots reach a length of 70 cm, they pinch the tops. Starting next year, it will be necessary to normalize the number of branches, which should be about 20 in total. In the future, branches older than 5 years are cut, and new shoots are formed to replace them from a strong shoot.

Chokeberry pruning in spring

By its nature, chokeberry aronia is a typical shrub, although it is often shaped like a tree. But it’s not so difficult to regulate the number of branches in the bush and not to force the plant, turning the bush into a tree. After planting, cut off all the branches from the seedling at a height of 10-20 cm, and leave 3-5 strong shoots from the root shoot that appeared next year, pruning them so that they are about the same length as the branches of the bush. Cut the rest of the shoots to the base. Next year, add another 3-4 root shoots to the bush. With this number of branches, you can finish the formation - for a chokeberry bush, it is enough to have about 10 branches.

When the bush is formed, make sure that sunlight can penetrate into the very depths of the crown, otherwise it will be difficult for the chokeberry to have normal branching and flower buds. The chokeberry branches are most productive when they are 8-10 years old, so plan your pruning, and prepare strong basal shoots in advance to replace the old ones. Every year you have to replace only 2-3 old branches.

Trimming ornamental shrubs

There are two types of pruning of ornamental shrubs - regular, which forms the correct crown and stimulates plentiful flowering, and anti-aging, prolonging the life of the plant. The timing and nature of pruning depends on the type of shrub. In relation to pruning, decorative shrubs are divided into three groups:

deciduous shrubs that grow not from the base of the bush, but along the perimeter of the crown - common barberry, henomeles, cysticis, flowering sod, flowering dogwood, cotoneaster, magnolia, spindle tree, scumpia, daphne, laurel cherry, Syrian hibiscus, viburnum, snowdrop and others;
deciduous shrubs blooming on last year's shoots in spring or early summer - spring-flowering spirea, large-leaved hydrangea, Weigela, Forsythia, action, Japanese keriya, tamarix, colquitia, jasmine, mock orange, blood-red currant, lilac and others;
deciduous shrubs blooming on the shoots of the current year - panicle and tree hydrangeas, David buddley, loosestrife, Japanese, Bumalda and Douglas.

Plants of the first group they need minimal sanitary pruning in the early spring, before the sap flow begins - they remove the weakened, sick, growing inside the crown and intersecting shoots. Sometimes live shoots are slightly shortened to give the bushes more decorative.

Shrubs of the second group cut off immediately after flowering - shorten faded shoots by about a third, so that plants grow new ones. Try not to cut the shoots every year at the same height, otherwise over time, thick growths will form on them, because of which the plant can not develop new shoots. If you begin to form a crown in the second group of shrubs in spring, you can remove all future flowers, since the flower buds of these plants form on the shoots of last year. With anti-aging pruning, all shoots are pruned at the level of the soil.

Some early flowering plants of the second group after flowering need radical pruning - willow, gorse, three-lobed almonds. They need to be cut to strong new shoots or to the ground, and next year they will bloom more magnificent than before.

The third group is represented by late-flowering shrubs that form flowers in summer or autumn on the shoots of the current year, so their pruning in early spring is quite justified. And the more the bushes are cut, the more abundant their flowering will subsequently be. Such pruning is carried out not every year, but once every three to four years, but between strong prunings from time to time, nevertheless remove old branches and shorten the shoots to the required height so that the bushes look neat.

For any type of pruning, you may need a garden saw, delimber, two-pruned pruner, a garden knife for trimming annual growth, a brush cutter for performing pruning and hedge trimming, a ladder, a garden var or Rannet paste. All instruments must be sharpened and sterile. A day after trimming, process the slices, the diameter of which is more than 7 mm, with garden varieties or wound healing pastes.

Dogwood, in addition to white dogwood, blooms and develops beautifully without any human intervention.

But so that the bush is a real decoration of the garden, you can not neglect pruning, whether rejuvenating or regular correct cropping shrubs.

Compliance with the terms and time of pruning shrubs is the most important condition for their beauty and health. What needs to be considered for flowering shrubs to give you joy?

A gardener with extensive experience in gardening and floriculture will help us to understand this crucial “health program”. He has been professionally growing shrubs for a long time and his collection can be envied kindly.

Pavel Semenovich, spring is on the street, what not to miss in pruning now?

Before budding, examine all of your shrubs for how much they have suffered after winter. Damaged branches and their dry parts must be cut to healthy wood.

Anti-aging pruning of shrubs will help restore youth to old shrubs, lighten them, facilitate air access to skeletal branches and reduce the risk of fungal and other diseases. Young, strong plants without special need should not be cut.

I prefer to cut a little each year, so as not to weaken the plant. The size of the bush should be limited in a timely manner, so that later you do not have to resort to strong pruning. Hedge cut from the first years, so that the bottom of the bushes is not exposed.

Very old plants that have lost their decorativeness, it may make sense to completely cut them to the ground. Then young shoots will go from the root or base of the bush.

I cut out thick branches or cut them out with a special secateurs with long handles (secateurs, delimbers), thin branches with a regular secateurs. All the secateurs I have been trained since the fall are imprisoned and disinfected.

Why use regular pruning of shrubs?

Pruning shrubs, as a rule, stimulates flowering, maintains its shape. It is important not to miss the timing of pruning - they depend on the timing of flowering.

Shrubs are trimmed over a healthy kidney located with outside branches. In some plants, flower buds are located on the growth of the current year, in others - on the growth of last year, and in many on perennial branches. Where flowering buds are located depends on the flowering time.

If flower buds are laid on annual or perennial branches, flowering will come in the spring. And if they develop on the young shoots of the current year, then in the summer or closer to autumn.

The hawthorn, almonds, vesicle, cinquefoil keep their crown shape well. It only needs to be slightly corrected from time to time.

Thinning and regular rejuvenation is especially necessary for barberry, action, guelder-rose, cotoneaster, lilac, mock up, rose hips. I remove wilted inflorescences from lilacs, summer spires, tamarix.

At lilacs, I cut off the blooming panicles to the base with the approach to the underlying wood, trying not to touch the young side shoots. In faded weigels, deytsiya, shrubby willows, almonds, broom, forsythia, I shorten the branches by a third or even half to the place of formation of strong young shoots.

In these flowering shrubs, flower buds for flowering in the next year are laid only on the newly grown branches and branches.

What shrubs should be trimmed in March?

First of all, in early spring, I prune those plants that bloom on the shoots of this year. These are mainly summer-flowering shrubs - spirea, panicled hydrangea, hibiscus, karyopteris, heather, David's buddy, three-lobed almonds, and broom. If you are late with pruning, flowering will begin at least a couple of weeks later. Pruning should be thorough, for two or three kidneys.

For example, in David’s awake, I greatly shorten, remove all last year’s long flower branches (leaving only two buds on each), as well as weakened ones.

To prevent blooming as early as possible, I prune them without delay - sometimes even in February. First of all, I get rid of drooping side shoots and keep them more in the center of the bush. This does not allow the bush to spread in breadth.

In Bumald’s spirea, in the first year I cut off damaged or very weak growths, completely - all incorrectly located branches. In subsequent years, the skeleton is being formed, I cut off all last year’s growths by a strong external kidney by half.

Garden hibiscus blooms more magnificent if in spring you thoroughly cut the bush. In March, I completely remove last year's inflorescences from heathers, cut out bare branches. In the shrubby cinquefoil, every 2-3 years I spend medium thinning, slightly trim

We trim bushes and ornamental too)))

Spring in terms of the condition of trees and shrubs is very suitable time for trimming, especially strong because very coldy all branches damaged by frost and mechanically broken have already passed and are noticeable. In the same time it must be carried out before the swelling and especially the active blooming of the kidneys !!!

About pruning fruit trees and berry bushes, we already wrote earlier, so now we offer to familiarize yourself with the features of its holding among decorative artists.

All ornamental shrubs require timely and correct pruning, aimed at removing dead and damaged shoots, restraining rapid growth and forming a beautiful crown (by cutting and thinning), to stimulate flowering, and also to rejuvenate old bushes.

In relation to ornamental shrubs, pruning is of 3 types:

sanitary
formative
anti-aging.

Almost all shrubs need sanitary pruning. Shaping is needed by most. There are only a small number of shrubs that do not need forming pruning. They need enough annual sanitary pruning every spring, in which all weak, frozen, crossed shoots are removed. An example of such picky persons is the golden currant, Van Gutta spirea.

The main task of trimming ornamental shrubs – achieve maximum decorative effectfor which these plants are grown in the garden.

The method of trimming shrubs depends on the characteristics of each type of plant.

The assortment of ornamental shrubs is very diverse, therefore, the principles of their pruning are applied different - depending on the features of their type. Therefore, before proceeding with pruning, you should decide which group the shrub type belongs to by the type of pruning..

Sanitary pruning

Fig. Sanitary pruning of ornamental shrubs

removal of sick, drying, broken, hanging down, interwoven branches;
removal of shoots and tops shoots (raising the crown);
pins clippings;
the formation of a uniformly translucent and ventilated crown.

Fig. Terms of sanitary trimming of decorative bushes.

This type of pruning is well considered in the example of vines. By tying the shoots to the guide sticks or cords immediately after planting, we take the first step to the formation of its branches. In the first summer, the plant develops rapidly, forming new shoots and while still flexible they give them the desired direction of growth, and carefully fix on the supports. In the spring, the first pruning is done, side shoots cut to a suitable kidney, and unnecessary cut off the whole, too thickened places, thin out in the depths. Next spring From the sleeping buds at the places of cuts of the lateral shoots, several new shoots are formed, to which we give the desired direction of growth, and which already at this stage allows us to determine the main shape (skeleton) of the plant.

Fig. Formative pruning.

Anti-aging pruning

Fig. Anti-aging pruning decorative shrubs (scheme according to Luchinsky)

Quite conditionally, all types of shrubs can be divided into flowering (here you can include shrubs with beautiful fruits: cotoneaster, barberry, etc.) and decorative foliage .

Pruning of flowering shrubs

Beautiful flowering shrubs are grown for gorgeous flowers, so main goal pruning them is to achieve abundant flowering.

According to the characteristics of pruning, flowering shrubs should be divided into three groups.

First group

The first group includes shrubs, which do not form substitute powerful shoots from the base or lower part of the crown. Annual growths in these shrubs appear along the perimeter of the crown.

Of the most common on garden plots plants, such shrubs include, for example: common viburnum, varietal lilac, cotoneaster, common barberry, scotia, irga, magnolia (stellate and Sulange), Japanese quince (henomeles), Syrian hibiscus and many others.

Ornamental shrubs of the first group need minimal pruning.

In the first years after planting, it is very important to form the skeleton of the plant from strong branches. To do this, early spring (during dormancy) should be removed all weak, intersecting and incorrectly located shoots that spoil the appearance of the plant.

Fig. Pruning of shrubs of the first group: in the first year after planting, weak and intersecting and incorrectly located branches are removed; in the second and subsequent years, only improperly located, dead, diseased and damaged branches are cut.

Pruning adult bushes usually comes down to removing shrunken, damaged, and diseased branches. If necessary, some live shoots are also removed or cut to maintain the symmetry of the branches and the desired decorative look bushes.

Second group

Second group includes shrubs, that bloom on last year's shoots (on last year's growth of branches).

Such shrubs, for example, include: weigela, deutia, large-leaved hydrangea, tamarix (comb), Japanese kerriya, colquition, stefanander, forsythia, mockwort, three-lobed almonds, some types of spirees (mainly early flowering - spirea Wangutta, Ostrobat, nippon, oak-leaved) and others.

Shrubs of this group usually bloom in spring or early summer. Considering fast growth these shrubs, their seedlings should be planted in the garden up to two, a maximum of three years of age.

Planted plants prune very moderately - are limited to the removal of weak and damaged branches, as well as gentle trimming (by several cm) of skeletal branches to a strong kidney. Immediately after flowering, the faded branches of these shrubs are pruned, leaving a strong developing growth, and thin and weak growths are removed.

Fig. Pruning of bushes of the second group: a - in the first year after planting (in spring); 6 - in the autumn of the first year; in - subsequent years.

And in subsequent years, pruning of shrubs of this group should be carried out immediately after flowering. Cut off faded branches, leaving the best lower young growths and at the same time forming beautiful crown bush to your taste. You should also regularly trim to the base a fourth or fifth of old branches that have become unproductive - this will ensure the appearance of young powerful shoots from the base of the bush.

It should be noted that in the pruning of many shrubs included in the second group, there are nuances.

Group 2 trim nuances

For example, in Kerry, Japanese faded branches should be cut to the base or into strong young shoots.

It should be pruned fairly well after flowering and three-blade almonds.

Garden hydrangea (especially at a young age), on the contrary, is trimmed purely “cosmetically” - only weak and damaged shoots are removed. And in adults, hydrangeas remove only part of the old stems to stimulate the annual formation of strong substitute shoots. In this case, it is advisable not to cut off the faded hydrangea inflorescences from the bush, since in winter they provide some protection to growths and flower buds from damage from frost. Therefore, the removal of faded hydrangea inflorescences is best done in early spring.

Third group

The third group includes shrubs, that bloom on the shoots of the current year .

Of the common plant species, this group, for example, is abundantly blooming in summer types and forms of spireas (Bumald’s spiraea, Japanese, Douglas, loosestrife), as well as David’s buddy, hydrangea tree and paniculata.

In early spring, adult shrubs of this group are severely pruned so that they form powerful shoots - then they will bloom profusely in summer or early fall. If this is not done, then the plants will quickly thicken and become neglected. In this case, without pruning, the flowering quality of adult shrubs of the third group gradually decreases.

It should be emphasized here that in the first year after planting, young 2-3-year-old seedlings of these shrubs do not cut as much as in subsequent years (to ensure the normal development of their so far weak root system).

After rooting and forming young plant, in the future, shrubs of this group annually and strongly pruned in early spring. At the same time, all last year's shoot growths are cut to well developed buds over the older part of the stem.

If after a few years the main lignified branches thicken, they are thinned out, supporting the decorative bush.

Trimming decorative foliage shrubs

This group includes the types and forms of ornamental shrubs. with original foliage, eg:

white-edged form of white pork,
the golden form of black elderberry and Bumald's spirea,
thunberg Barberry,
red-leafed forms of hazel,
barberry
scumpies,
cystic fibrosis (Kalinosa spirea)
and other plants.

When to trim decorative leaf

Ornamental deciduous shrubs need to be pruned annually in early spring, and pruned quite strongly. This is done to cause the active growth of young shoots and their leaves have reached the maximum decorative effect, and appearance the bushes remained neat.

A few words from the author

You should always remember that proper pruning is only one of the components of multifactor technology for growing ornamental shrubs, which involves right choice location in the garden, proper, timely and regular care:

watering,
top dressing
weed removal and soil mulching,
pest and disease control,
protection of thermophilic plants for the winter.

Prepared by Alexander Zharavin, agronomist