Pruning (haircut) thuja in autumn, spring: shaping with a spiral, cone, decorative pruning forms for beginners

The unpretentious thuja has long won the hearts of gardeners with its endurance and luxurious appearance. Not only competent care, but also timely pruning of the thuja will help to maintain and increase the beauty of this plant.

Is it possible to cut the thuja

To the question of whether it is possible to cut thuja, you definitely need to answer: yes. This plant is among those that competently carried out pruning not only does not harm, but also benefits, favorably influencing the development of shoots and crown density. Shearing these conifers has several goals:

• cleaning the crown from dead needles;
• getting rid of sick injured branches;
• thinning of an excessively dense crown;
• limiting unwanted growth of needles;
• the formation of a certain silhouette from the needles.

Timely decorative pruning and crown formation helps to preserve the decorative qualities of the arborvitae for a long time and present them favorably in the landscape design of the site. Different varieties of western thuja require an individual approach. Cone-shaped or columnar varieties are sheared at different frequencies, which depends on the rate of plant growth:

Globular conifers have an even lower growth rate, so they can be cut even less often, taking care only of sanitary cleaning of the crown. As with all varieties of thuja, it should be carried out 2 times a year.

Types and tasks of pruning thuja

As already noted, there are 2 types of pruning thuja:

• sanitary;
• decorative or shaping.

Sanitary pruning is necessary for all varieties of this plant for healthy development. During this procedure, yellowed needles are removed on the surface of the crown and near the trunk so that pests and fungi do not start on the thuja. Also, during sanitary pruning, they get rid of dry and damaged shoots, which is why the crown of the conifer becomes thicker and more beautiful.

Formative pruning is not essential for plant welfare, but serves aesthetic purposes. They resort to it when they want to slow down the growth rate of a tree and give it the desired shape.

When can thuja be cut: in spring or autumn

The key to successfully maintaining the decorative qualities of the thuja and its health lies in the careful planning of the timing of pruning. The optimal time for the procedure depends on the type of this conifer and the goals for which it is carried out. So, sanitary pruning of thuja is carried out at least twice a year: for the first time – in the spring and the second – with the arrival of autumn. Spring treatment of plants is aimed at removing dried and frozen shoots during frosts and subsequent activation of plant growth. Autumn pruning of trees, in turn, serves to facilitate their wintering.

As for the decorative formation of the crown, it is carried out from late April to mid-August. A later haircut can damage the flower buds that are laid on the tops of the thuja shoots in early autumn. And this will be fraught with a lack of growth and flowering next year.

Preparation of tools and materials

Although pruning arborvitae may seem like a rather complicated task that requires expensive equipment, it is not at all necessary to have a wide range of tools for its implementation. The branches of the plant and its needles are not particularly thick, and therefore even beginners in this business will need only two basic tools:

• pruner;
• gardening scissors.

The pruner is useful for thinning the crown of the tree and removing branches, and the garden shears will help to smoothly cut the shoots and give them the desired silhouette.

Among the latter, mechanical and electrical models are distinguished. It is up to everyone to decide which scissors to choose for themselves, however, based on the experience of gardeners, it is worth noting that an electric tool is most suitable for professional pruning of numerous plantings. If the thuja grow in a small amount on the site, mechanical scissors should be preferred.

In addition to secateurs and scissors, some growers use a sickle, with which you can cut the thickest branches of the arborvitae. All of the above tools must be sharpened before cutting, as blunt instruments can severely injure the thuja crown. After pruning trees, the tools must be washed and dried thoroughly.

The procedure itself should be performed with gloves and a protective gown or apron, since the thuja tends to release resin, which will be very difficult to remove when it gets on clothes.

How to prune thuja in spring

To maintain the health of the thuja and properly conduct spring sanitary pruning, you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of this procedure:

1. For work, they choose a day when the sky is completely overcast in order to avoid burns on the cut shoots of the thuja. At the same time, the cutting schedule is planned so that there will be no rain in the next few days after it.
2. Immediately before the procedure, the ephedra is carefully examined for diseases and fungi. Cutting branches is only allowed on healthy thujas.
3. In the process of pruning, they get rid of dry, injured, yellowed and diseased branches.
4. If the crown of the thuja is excessively thick, it is thinned out, removing no more than 30% of the green mass of the plant in one procedure. At the same time, thinning is not required for undersized varieties of thuja.
5. At the end of the haircut, the tree is generously watered.

In order to consolidate information for beginners, it will be useful to watch a video about pruning thuja in the spring:

Similar actions are guided not only in the spring, but also before decorative pruning of the plant.

Decorative forms of pruning thuja

The popularity of thuja in landscape design is easily explained by the fact that the culture is ideal for all sorts of decorative haircuts. With the help of the right tools, it can be given a wide variety of forms without much effort, which gardeners actively use, regularly coming up with new design options for this plant. And although creative imagination is sometimes unpredictable, all silhouettes can be reduced to a few simple figures, including:

• pyramid;
• ball;
• cone;
• cube;
• column;
• spiral.

When choosing how best to cut a thuja, you should focus, first of all, on the natural shape of its crown – so the trimming shape will look more harmonious and fit better into the environment. Experience also matters: it will be easier for novice designers to start with elementary geometric shapes, such as a ball, cone or pyramid.

How to cut thuja depending on the variety and type

Since, during the decorative formation of thuja, they are guided mainly by the shape of its habitus, it is quite obvious that for some figures some varieties of this conifer are better suited than others.

Tui Smaragd are considered universal varieties, as they easily tolerate a haircut and grow quickly. Because of these features, their crowns can be cut to almost any shape. Often you can see plants of this variety, designed in the form of pyramids and cones. There are also more complex silhouettes of balls on stands, chess pieces and even various animals.

Those who wish to have thujas in the form of columns on their site should pay attention to thuja varieties with a dense elongated crown, for example, Columna, Fastigiata, Yellow Ribon.

Pyramidal and cone-shaped silhouettes enhance the beauty of the Brabant and Holmstrup varieties.

The crown of such species of thuja as Woodwardy, Hozeri, Globozum and Danica looks most harmoniously in spherical compositions.

How to cut thuja with a cone

Of all the options that allow you to artistically trim the thuja, perhaps the simplest to perform is the cone shape. It is used for many varieties, in particular for Smaragd, Holmstrup and Brabant. In order for the cone to be symmetrical, you will need 3 wooden slats, slightly longer than the height of the tree – to create a frame. Further pruning is carried out according to the following algorithm.

1. Reiki are placed above the plant at an equal distance from each other to make a hut. They should fit snugly to the thuja.
2. The upper parts of the boards are tied together with twine.
3. The branches in the space between the yards are slowly cut with garden shears.
4. Having adjusted the sides of the thuja, the frame is removed, after which the lower part of the conifer is leveled.

How to cut thuja with a spiral

Spiral trees will serve as an unusual decorative element of the landscape. A spiral haircut looks especially attractive on tall thujas, for example, Brabant or Smaragd varieties. Its formation is as follows:

1. The top of the plant is tied with a rope or ribbon, after which the rope is passed around the tree along its crown to the very base and fixed to the ground so that the winding cannot move.
2. Using garden shears, outline the outlines of future pruning.
3. Then, following the contour, cut out the needles located closer to the trunk of the thuja. In this case, the change in the length of the branches should be visually clearly visible.
4. At the end of the process, the rope is removed from the tree.

The advantage of this pruning is that the spirals have a huge variety of variations in the number of turns, their width and smoothness, so this form will be able to decorate the garden in any style.

Those who want to learn more about how to cut a thuja and give it a spiral shape may be interested in the following video:

How to cut a thuja with a ball

It is easiest to use spherical pruning on low-growing varieties of thuja Globozum, Hozeri, and Danica. To do this, the top of the trees is cut off from the top, so that later they grow in breadth, and not up. Then visually evaluate the length of the remaining branches and shorten those that are knocked out of the intended shape, while trying to cut the plant by no more than a third. Deeper pruning can lead to a decrease in the immunity of the bush and further diseases of the conifer.

Topiary haircut wedding

Recently, topiary pruning of thuja has been gaining popularity. It involves the use of a special wire frame in the form of a certain figure, inside which the plant is planted. In the process of development, the thuja becomes wider and higher, and as soon as its branches begin to go beyond the frame, the excess greenery is cut into shape, and the frame is removed.

Many prefer this particular method of shearing, as it is easier to perform and in the process of crown formation, the risk of cutting the tree too much is very low. In addition, such frames are produced not only in the form of geometric shapes, but also in more complex shapes that can be selected, focusing on your own taste. However, such pruning is possible only if the thuja grows under the frame from the moment of planting. Adult conifers will not be able to cut the crown in this way.

How to cut a thuja in the shape of a pyramid

In order to trim the thuja into a pyramid shape, a principle similar to the formation of a crown under a cone is used. However, in this case, the frame will need a number of rails equal to the number of faces of the future figure. Moreover, for 1 haircut session, the needles are cut on all sides at the same time so that the silhouette is symmetrical. The most beautiful pyramids are obtained from trees of the Brabant, Smaragd and Holmstrup varieties.

Other decorative forms of thuja haircuts

Among the simple options for decorative pruning include the shape in the form of an egg. This haircut will be possible even for “dummies” in the matter of decorative pruning, since it is close to the natural silhouette of the crown of many spherical thujas, for example, Wagneri, therefore, on these varieties, such pruning requires a minimum of effort. Plants with a crown tending upward can be given this shape if the top is cut off on them.

If you need to quickly cut the tall thuja Smaragd, Columna or Yellow Ribbon, it is worth trimming it in the shape of a column. By itself, such a figure is very decorative, and if too much greenery was cut, another figure can be made from it. For shearing, wooden slats are also useful, which are installed around the tree in a circle. So that the column does not turn out to be skewed, the stem of the plant must be located in the center. If desired, for a more aesthetic composition, trim the top of the thuja.

Plants trimmed in the form of cubes look original. It is not at all difficult to perform such pruning, especially on undersized spherical thujas:

1. The outlines of a square are marked on the ground.
2. At its corners, wooden yards are driven in, coinciding in length with the sides of the intended square.
3. The installed slats are interconnected by horizontal boards.
4. Plants are sheared, starting from the top edge, slightly above the frame.
5. Then trim the side edges.
6. In conclusion, the lower part of the crown is adjusted.

Is it possible to cut the top of the thuja

You can cut the top of the thuja without any fear, as this plant recovers well after pruning. Moreover, sometimes when trimming, the top branches need to be trimmed to give the tree the desired shape or height. In addition, pruning the top shoots will cause the crown of the thuja to grow thicker, as the side branches will receive more nutrients.

How to cut thuja for the winter

At the end of August, the second sanitary haircut of the thuja is carried out, designed to prepare the tree for winter. It is carried out as follows:

1. Plants are cleaned of dried and injured shoots.
2. Some branches are removed from the thuja trunk to improve air circulation in winter.
3. Large sections that do not heal well without outside intervention are covered with garden pitch.
4. Unnecessarily long branches are cut from the thuja, knocking out of the crown so that they do not break under the weight of freshly fallen snow.

Thuja care after a haircut

Although the thuja tolerates pruning quite easily, she still experiences some stress after this procedure. Therefore, for a better recovery of the plant, it should be provided with proper care.

1. After pruning, the moisture from the needles evaporates faster, so at the end of the process it is worth watering the tree, spending at least 10 liters of liquid.
2. If the formation of the crown occurs in May, you can feed the plant with Kemira universal fertilizer using 100 g of the composition per 1 m2. In the summer, you do not need to feed the thuja.
3. You can treat the tree with Zircon or Epin Extra stimulants, which will activate the growth of the plant and thus reduce the stress level of the conifer after pruning.
4. If there are deep cuts on the thuja after cutting, they should be examined. Healthy plants will successfully heal with their own resin, but injuries on weakened thujas that lack resin should be treated with fruit tree paste or garden pitch.

At the end of the pruning of the western thuja, one should carefully monitor its condition and further monitor all negative changes, since the plant’s immunity remains weakened for some time, which remains the risk of pests.

Conclusion

Thuja pruning plays an important role in caring for this plant. When a number of simple rules are followed, this wonderful perennial conifer will serve as the main original decoration of the site for a long time to come.