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Pruning , ....................................................... # ............. 0 ........................................................ Correct I Incorrect I 45 -degree angle Too angular Too low Too high Correct Blade U. Hook Incorrect Hook Cutting edge Blade 67, 594 Final cut growth patterns and responses influence plant MOW TO' and structural strength. MAKE X All pruning cuts, Including pinching, should PRUNING* CUT-':,! be made just above some growth—a growth bud, stem, or branch. For explanations of how f_ :cut has:its lower"' to make proper cuts, see Pruning Cuts on the. % point even*with the'., next page. t Aop`ofa growth bud; ':and slants upward < .i Types of pruning. All pruning methods have specific goals. Common approaches are explained in the illustration. a Thinning. Thinning is the removal of a lateral branch at its point of origin or the shortening of a branch to a smaller lateral branch (at least 30 percent of the size of the branch being removed). Thinning serves to open a plant to sunlight—and reduce Its size (if desired) while accentuating its natural form. In most cases thinning cuts are preferred over heading cuts. How TO. a Heading back. This sort of pruning—also POSITION called cutting back—involves cutting a cur - rently growing or 1 -year-old shoot to a bud, SHEARS or cutting an older branch back to a stab or a Jorriake'apitiper',-` tiny twig. Pinching and shearing are forms of close pruning cut heading. With a few exceptions, including hold pruning shears pruning fruit trees to establish main frame - with the blade clos-. work branches, shearing hedges to keep est to the growth them compact, and pruning roses for flower that will remain on production, heading is a less desirable type of the plant. A stub results when you' pruning. The reason is simple: heading results reverse the position in in growth below the cut, usually and place the hookfrom several to many buds, depending on the closest to the plant. severity of the heading. While a plant that has been headed does become more compact, its natural shape is ruined and will be difficult to repair. In addition, new growth is often ? weakly attached and prone to breaking. Every year, scores of beautiful trees are ruined when they are headed back Instead of thinned. m Pinching. The first opportunity you have to control or direct plant growth Is to remove— to pinch out—new growth before it elongates Into stems. This is especially useful with young HOW TO ., plants that you want to make bushier. For REMOVE'A example, you can pinch all the terminal buds `LARGE LIMB on every branch of a young fuchsia plant. This will force growth from buds that are at the leaf First cut beneath bases along the stems, creating perhaps two, branch, one-third to three, or four new side branches instead of one-half through,- just one lengthening branch. When this hap - then cutoff limb beyond first cut pens, you get all-over growth. Conversely, if Finally, remove limb you want a plant to gain height, keep side stub, cutting just growth pinched back so that the terminal bud outside bark ridges on the main stem continues to elongate. at limb's base as shown in circled.,:,:• a Shearing. This Is the only form of pruning Inset illustration ., that could be called indiscriminate. Ignoring (or on a line bisect- all advice about cutting just above growing "ingtap and bottom,- points, you instead clip the surface of densely angles branch, foliaged plants. Shearing is the process that m , akes to trunk). - , maintains the even surfaces of formal hedges and topiary work Because the plants that nor- mally are used for these purposes have buds and branches that are close together on their stems, every cut Is dose to a growing point.