# pruning trees...



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Sometimes you see a tree that you can tell was manicured and it just looks great, no small wispy branches, great shape, etc.

My neighbors have it done like this on a citrus tree in their backyard, and I just love the look of it. <<I cannot ask them how due to a language barrier!>>

I attempted this on my own citrus tree, and the finished result, well, wasn't what I had hoped for :laughing: :laughing: 





Can anyone link any guides or give me any tips on this? I have a few trees I'd love to work with, but I dunno the first thing, I don't know whether to cut from main spots, how much to cut, how to see it as a bigger picture, etc.... It just looked like it'd be so simple, I attempted it on a medium sized citrus tree, and it looks like it was in a bad hurricane or something :huh:


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

well, can't say I expected a ton of responses cuz landscape is usually slow here, so I got a decent amount of research done today on the subject. For the common knowledge, here's some resources. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruning
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/pruning/fruit.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espalier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruning_fruit_trees
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

I'm still learning and will be beginning some more of this work tomorrow. Feel free to post q's in this thread if you want clarification on anything, I may / may not be able to help you lol!


BTW I also attached some pics of some real funky pruning/grafting/manipulating of trees to inspire ideas and just get the point of this thread across a little better. 
<<plz note that these pics are NOT what I'm aiming to do - I'm solely interested in some basic pruning to make my generic trees, the 'giant bushes on a stick' in my backyard look a bit more manicured. These are NOT what I'm aiming at, rather just put them there cuz I thought they were inspiring and show extreme examples of what you can do with creativity and all :thumbup: >>>


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

http://www.mdvaden.com/pruning.shtml

This was a good link I found pretty informative on the basics, very useful!


----------



## timber (Nov 30, 2007)

joeyboy, looks like you've got some good reference material. I've been an arborist for a long time and the type of pruning thats in the photos you included ( i call topiary pruning or espalier pruning) takes a little while to get (and a lot of patience!). I have some customers that I still do a little for. That last picture looks like a Flowering Pear Tree thats been trained, I've worked on a couple of those here in Indiana. Citrus are tropicals and indoor plants for us. There's a book by Michael Dirr called "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" that always answers about every question I have on trees and shrubs. It's great at telling you when to prune. Good luck!


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

thanks a lot man! BTW welcome to the boards!!!!! And thanks for answering my past 3 questions in landscaping I couldn't figure out lol!!

Those pics aren't what I'm trying to do yet, I was just going for a more general cleaning approach, and to let more light through (let me tell ya how fun it is to work on a thorned orange tree!! Looks like I got in a fight with a pack of stray cats lol)

The only 'fancy' playing I've ever done with trees was a bonsai ficus I had, that unfortunately I killed (being a dumb college kid - I had it in a bad spot and it got knocked over and snapped at its stem).


(****on that note - I'm almost wondering if I could've saved it now! How low on a tree's trunk can it be cut and come back and be alive? For instance, in the attached pic, is this something that was kept bonsai for its whole life, or was it somethign larger that was cut back and made into that? I should add this is my favorite tree in the world, I believe it's at a major tree place in canada <aborteum? sp?>)


----------



## infantrymama (May 24, 2008)

*A spectacular site regarding everything trees!*

The Arbor Day web site is THE place for all the info you would ever need to know: 
http://www.arborday.org/index.cfm


----------



## white29 (Sep 18, 2007)

That link you have is a good one. I start to trim my trees by removing any dead wood. Then move on to suckers,which are the long vertical ones that appear seemingly overnight. The first picture you posted of the kind of knarly looking trees witout leaves seem to have had the suckers left growing upright from the top.I myself find that to be ugly,but that's just me. After I remove the suckers I look for any branches that are growing back toward the trunk and cut those out,along with any crossing branches. Cut out the weaker branch in this case.I also am not fond of branches that droop toward the ground. These can not always be removed without ruining the tree's overall shape,but that is my aim.Limbs that are too long should be cut back,but always to something such as a future bud that will help maintain the shape of the tree. In fact any cuts that dont involve total removal of a given branch should be cut back this way. Also look for thinning cuts in areas that look congested.Keep in mind that you may not always be able to complete a trimming job in one year,if a tree has been let go for several years it may have to be done gradually to look right. Proceed slowly,with an idea of what you'd like to accomplish and you'll do fine.Use the picture on the link you posted that shows the cuts to be made in blue,that's a good guide for you.Good luck.And by the way,I have no idea what citrus trees should look like. I have apple trees(I dont use the apples,just trim every spring for pleasing look and wildlife).Apples want to be trained in a vase shape with a central leader.If I were you I'd seek out info on what shape citrus trees like.


----------



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Thanks a lot, very helpful new stuff!! And I'm right about to start some massive pruning now!


----------

