Can someon explain "cutting back" and prunning?
Question:I have a BROWN thumb..but am working on it! What does cutting back and prunning mean? Why do you do it? Why does cutting it back (after it has flowered) make it grow better the next year? Why do you prune branches from a bush? Is it when it gets to thick? I just need a basic understanding of this two "care" options and why/when you would do it. Planning to plant a privet small hedge and a couple crabapple bushes.
THanks!
Answers:
Flowers (perennials & roses) may be deadheaded (spent flowers removed through "pinching" or pruning) to promote additional blooms. Shrubs typically do no need or benefit from pruning just because they have flowered.
You prune a shrub to remove dead or broken branches. You can do this type of pruning anytime. You prune to remove diseased wood or insect infestations like tent caterpillars. You prune back (called heading back) to make a shrub bushier and more compact. You can prune to thin a shrub. You prune crossing and rubbing branches. You renewal or rejuvenate prune to improve a shrub's appearance or improve its health. This type of pruning is used to renew the stem color usually prevalent in younger stems (red twig dogwoods), prevent borer infestations in older stems (lilac & some viburnum), promote bigger and darker leaf color that occurs in younger stems (smoke tree), or renew short lived twiggy shrubs like some spirea.
A good book that explains pruning techniques and the requirements for specific plants is: "The American Horticultural Society Pruning & Training A Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual".
Here are a few good links that offer more details on pruning: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/exten...
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributio...
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/stateline/0...
This is my understanding of these.
Flowers, by it's nature, are the reproductive organs of the plant. So for the plant's benefit, it needs bright and wide petalled to attract insects or catch the wind, to be able to spread the seed and propagate it's species. When flowers start dying, you'll see some of their seed pods emerging. That means the flower's work is done. However, if you cut that wilting flower off, the plant will continue to try to push it's seeds forward, therefore, producing more flowers to compensate.
Pruning branches, will keep the shape of your bush or plant, but it also helps control the creation of new branches. Often when you prune back one long branch, a few more will grow making the bush more full.
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