May brings warmer temperatures and lots of sunshine to the USA garden, ensuring that gardeners can enjoy longer days outdoors. This month also means gardening tasks to keep the garden tidy. To save money on all your gardening plans and needs use a Lowes Discount Coupon from We Are Coupons.
Pruning
Pruning involves removing parts of a plant, tree, or vine that are no longer needed, ineffective, or no longer visually pleasing. It also helps to improve the health and landscape value of a plant.
Pruning can be performed on a wide variety of plants, from shrubs to trees to fruit and flowering plants. It is important to prune correctly and at the correct time in order to prevent damage to the plant.
The best time to prune is during the winter or early spring before new growth begins. The worst time is right after new growth has started; this causes a great deal of food stored in the roots and stems to be used up, resulting in a loss of size and vigor.
Several different types of pruning procedures exist, including thinning, topping, and reduction. These are used for various purposes, such as increasing the light penetration and controlling growth on a specific plant or training a young tree to grow in a certain manner.
In general, pruning should follow a definite plan and be done in the most efficient manner. This will ensure that all necessary nutrients are delivered to the plant and the least amount of damage is caused to the plant by the pruning procedure.
For example, if the reason for cutting is to enhance light penetration or control growth, then it is recommended to use a thinning cut instead of a topping cut, which may be too drastic for a plant. The thinning procedure is also an excellent way to keep a plant trimmed and neat, as it will remove a large portion of the plant's branches without damaging the structure or leaves.
To avoid the danger of poisoning the plant, it is essential to disinfect the tools between each pruning cut with a solution of alcohol and water. This will help to prevent fungus and bacteria from infecting the plant.
It is especially important to do a good job of trimming evergreen trees and shrubs that bloom in the fall or spring because the buds that form on these shoots are derived from shoots that have already grown that season. For example, juniper and fir shrubs should be pruned in the fall to encourage more vigorous shoot growth in the spring.
