The Pruning Book

A comprehensive pruning guide for all gardeners, from beginner to advanced, based on the latest research. Horticulturist Lee Reich, Ph.D., removes the fear of pruning by showing step-by-step techniques that you can use for virtually every plant you'll meet, from trees to tropicals.

Reich debunks many current pruning myths with new information. He clearly defines tools and skills. And in three well-illustrated sections, he takes you through the basics, The plants and specialized pruning techniques, showing exactly how and when to apply shears, loppers and saws. He explains advanced and specialized techniques such as espalier, pleaching, topiary and bonsai.

"clear writing and good photos and drawings to help demystify this most daunting of garden tasks. . . . The author is a trained horticulturist and amateur fruit grower, so there is good information to help you prune fruit trees, grapevines, and fruiting shrubs. . . . this is a very helpful book that deserves a place on your gardening bookshelf."

-- The Sunday Republican (Waterbury, CT), Nov '97

Chosen as one of its "Best Books of 97"

-- Garden Design, Dec/Jan '97-98

INTRODUCTION

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK


PART 1 THE BASICS


1 WHY PRUNE?

Prune for plant health
Prune to keep a plant from growing too large
Prune to make a plant more beautiful
Prune to improve the quality or quantity of flowers, leaves, or fruits
And one more reason to prune...

2 TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Caring for pruning tools

3 PLANT RESPONSE TO PRUNING

Overall effects of pruning
Localized effects of pruning stems
Effects of pruning parts other than stems
Wound healing: how to cut


PART 2: THE PLANTS


4 DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL BUSHES

Deciduous bushes grown as shrubs
Deciduous bushes grown together as a hedge

5 DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES

Pruning at planting time
Pruning while training
Maintenance pruning
Renovating a deciduous ornamental tree

6 EVERGREEN TREES AND BUSHES

Coniferous trees and bushes
Broadleaf evergreen trees and bushes
Palm trees
Bamboo

7 ORNAMENTAL VINES

Pruning while training
Maintenance pruning
Renovation

8 EDIBLE FRUITS AND NUTS

Tree fruits
Bush fruits
Vine fruits

9 HOUSEPLANTS

10 HERBACEOUS PLANTS

Pinching to promote bushiness
Pruning for extra-large flowers or fruits
Deadheading for neatness and continued bloom
Crown division to rejuvenate a perennial


PART 3: SPECIALIZED PRUNING TECHNIQUES


11 POLLARDING

12 PLEACHING

13 TOPIARY

14 STANDARDS

15 MOWING

16 BONSAI

17 ESPALIER

GLOSSARY OF PRUNING TERMS

INDEX

Do you wince with pain, as if amputating without anesthetic, when pruning a plant? Or do you ruthlessly attack? Either approach can have good results -- provided your cuts are well reasoned, well timed, and well made. These are the three keys to successful pruning, and my aim in writing this book is put them into your hands.

I have attempted to include here nearly every plant that might benefit from pruning. And I use the word prune quite literally: "to remove dead or living parts from (a plant) so as to increase fruit or flower production or improve the form" (Websters New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, 1962). To this end, you will find between these two covers information on how to prune a lilac bush, an apple tree or a maple tree, a hibiscus hedge, a bougainvillea, strawberries, tomato vines, a weeping fig, a wisteria vine, chrysanthemumsas I said, any plant that benefits from pruning. The last section of this book guides you through such specialized pruning techniques as bonsai, espalier, even lawn mowing. (I did say that this book was meant to be comprehensive and fully embrace the word prune.)

This book is intended for readers as diverse in their interests and skills as the range of plants covered. Too often, directions for pruning are unduly complicated, even for seasoned pruners.

I have drawn on my own experiences, in research and in the field, as well as what has been previously written about pruning, to put together a text that is, I hope, both practical and readable. Information is arranged so that both novices and experts can easily sift out what they need.

This book parts company with other books about pruning in two ways. First of all, I have had no qualms about debunking or at least questioning the value of certain long-held and well-entrenched pruning practices. Cutting back the tops of woody plants when transplanting, flush-cutting limbs from shade trees, and applying wound dressings are all examples of traditional practices that, on the basis of recent research, should no longer be universally recommended (but are still recommended in too many "modern" publications). Let careful and rigorous observation, rather than tradition, be our guides in pruning. The plants will be thankful, and show it.

This book also distinguishes itself in being a book only about pruning. While writing this book, I was often tempted to describe flowers and fruits, to mention site selection, fertilization, and other considerations attendant to growing particular plants listed. But I resisted temptation. Presumably you have done your homework in these matters -- now you are ready to prune. What these pages lack in incidentals about plants, I hope they make up for with thoroughness about pruning those plants.