A carve above the rest

When pruning trees and shrubs, where you cleave is as necessary as how you carve.

Winter is the best time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs as they are dormant during this time. The risk of infection to the cuts are lower and the plant will likely recover well. For best results, you should always use the accurate tools and be sure to manufacture your carve in the accurate space.

Pruning is a must to maintain the health and attractive inspect of trees and shrubs. We prune to remove dead or diseased plant limbs, to encourage growth and to maintain the ideal size and shape of a tree or shrub. Pruning can also be done to remove parts of a plant damaged by frost or storms and to promote flowering and fruiting in the coming season.

Where and how to fabricate your pruning cuts to achieve a particular result requires careful consideration. Fabricate sure you maintain the accurate tools before you start and manufacture sure they are sharp enough. Ragged cuts don’t heal well and are vulnerable to infection. Stand back, grasp a excellent scrutinize at the plant and picture the final shape, size and height.

GARDENA, the leading supplier of premium gardening tools shares four basic pruning cuts that you can produce for different purposes. Once you’re ready, follow these helpful principles to achieve the best results.

1. The Heading Cleave

This cleave removes the upper portion, or head, of a branch, honest above a bud. You aren’t topping the branch, honest cutting back to a specific bud. Produce the slice approximately 3cm above the bud at a 45-degree angle.
Plants respond to heading cuts by activating the bud immediately below the slice to generate novel heading branches. The recent branches will grow more buds, more flowers, and more fruit. Because heading cuts stimulate growth, they will design the plant denser, so avoid this slit if this is not desired.

2. The Thinning Slit

Thinning cuts remove entire branches from within a tree or shrub, usually to expose the interior of the plant. Produce the slit very close to the branch collar, the enlarged ring-like growth area at the vulgar of the branch. Carry out not cleave into the branch collar as it contains the specialised cells that will grow over and heal the carve. Enact not leave a stub either, as the cells can’t grow over the stub to heal the slit. Design the cleave factual next to the collar so that only the raised, textured ring remains.

With the branches removed, the tree or shrub will channel energy and nutrients past the slit and concentrate growth along the main, leading branches. The interior will also receive more sunlight and air. This allows flowering and fruiting throughout the plant but may also cause the plant to grow taller and wider.

3. The Releadering Slice

This slice removes a portion of a lead branch above a lateral branch, causing the lateral branch to become the modern leader. Fabricate this slit approximately 3-6mm above the joint of the lead and lateral branches. Imagine a straight line cutting across the lead branch and meeting the lateral branch to form an imaginary triangle. Angle the blade of your cutting tool so that it points to the tip (where the line meets the lateral branch) of your imaginary triangle .

For this slit to be propitious, the lateral branch must be at least one-third of the diameter of the lead. If smaller, the lateral will not be strong enough to become the modern lead branch. Releadering cuts immediately reduce the height and width of a tree or shrub and change the direction in which it grows. This carve also slows growth and can be used to control the size of the plant over a longer period.

4. The Jump Cleave

Jump cuts are made to reduce the weight of heavy branches before making a final cleave. This is done to prevent cracking and tearing injuries to the area where the final slice is made on the tree or shrub.

The first carve is made from the underside of the branch approximately 15cm from the point where the final slice is desired (usually the branch collar). Slit halfway through the branch. The second carve is made from the topside of the branch, about 1-2.5cm further out from the first slit. If done correctly, the branch will crash away cleanly from the tree or shrub and leave a stump. The third and final carve is made to trim the stump to the desired length or correct next to the branch collar (if the whole branch is to be removed).

Which tools are best for which cuts?

Your choice of tool is not so much determined by the type of cuts but rather by the type of plant and the thickness of the branches. GARDENA stocks a wide range of pruning tools that satisfy basic, comfort and premium requirements. Follow these guidelines in your selection:

1. Secateurs | for soft branches with diameters up to 25mm
2. Loppers | for thicker branches with diameters up to 45mm
3. Hedge Clipper | for hedges or solitary shrubs
4. SlimCut Lopper | for obscure undergrowth and hard-to-reach areas
5. StarCut Loppers | for pruning high branches from the ground (max. height 6m)
6. AccuShears | Battery-operated shears for trimming hedges and lawn edges

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