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Pruning sea buckthorn is one of the necessary measures included in the set of measures for caring for this shrub. This procedure allows you to significantly increase the yield of berries, form a beautiful crown shape. In addition, pruning can significantly reduce the risk of fungal infections in this shrub, as well as identify those at an early stage of development. This article tells you how to prune sea buckthorn in spring in stages with a photo, how to carry out autumn pruning and what you need for this.
Goals and objectives of pruning sea buckthorn
Sea buckthorn is a low-growing perennial deciduous shrub. Pruning it is a procedure for removing part of the branches and shoots, which performs several functions and has the following goals:
- maintaining the health of the shrub;
- disease prevention;
- giving the plant a beautiful appearance;
- increasing or maintaining yields;
- life extension.
Each of these tasks has its own type of pruning, which is carried out according to a certain pattern at the right time. More on this below.
Types of trimming
There are quite a few types of sea buckthorn pruning. They depend not only on the goals set, but also on the time of year and the age of the bush.
Goal | Trimming type |
Sea buckthorn crown formation | Formative |
Pruning diseased, damaged, dry branches | Sanitary |
Stimulating the growth of young healthy shoots | Rejuvenating |
Restoring a running hive | Restorative |
Maintaining the crown in good condition, thinning, lightening | Regulatory |
Artificial limitation of the number of berries to reduce the load on the bush, improve their quality | Normalizing |
When to prune sea buckthorn: in spring or autumn
Sea buckthorn reacts painfully to pruning, so the timing of this procedure must be approached responsibly. It is believed that it is correct to prune sea buckthorn in the spring, before the start of the growing season. In autumn, only sanitary pruning is performed, removing broken, dry or diseased branches.
Despite this, many gardeners quite successfully prune later and even in the summer, explaining this by the fact that in summer all the shortcomings of the crown are better visible. Dried branches are much easier to see in summer than in early spring. There is no consensus on the timing of pruning sea buckthorn.
How to prune sea buckthorn in spring
The scheme for pruning sea buckthorn in the spring depends on the age of the shrub. More on this below. It is necessary to cut sea buckthorn in the spring before the start of sap flow, at this time it is recommended to carry out sanitary pruning. This will save the bush from dry and broken branches that died during the winter. At the same time, formative pruning is done for young trees.
Rejuvenating pruning will be required for a sea buckthorn tree or shrub when its age exceeds 6–7 years. In the process of rejuvenation, from 1 to 3 large branches are removed, growing young shoots instead.
A diagram of how to cut sea buckthorn in spring is given in the figure below.
Terms of pruning sea buckthorn in the fall
In autumn, sea buckthorn can be cut only for sanitary purposes. For this, a period of time is selected when the plant has completely shed its foliage, but frosts have not yet come. The scheme for pruning sea buckthorn in the fall is very simple. At this time, along with broken and dried branches, those on which there are traces of fungal diseases should also be removed. It is very important to work carefully when pruning, all cuts and cuts must be made even and smooth.
Tools and materials
To perform pruning, you will need a garden pruner, a hand file and a garden knife. If the tree is tall, you can use a lopper. Sea buckthorn wood is quite fragile, so the quality of the tool must be very high. Before cutting, all cutting surfaces must be treated with a solution of copper sulfate. This will prevent the development of fungal infections.
Sea buckthorn juice quickly thickens in the air, enveloping the cut with a protective film. Therefore, garden pitch or other means can not be used. However, experienced gardeners still recommend doing this as an additional guarantee against infection. Many garden putties contain copper sulfate, which is a good disinfectant.
How to cut sea buckthorn
An adult sea buckthorn tree can reach 5 m in height, this is not required in a garden. The height of the bush at the level of a person’s raised hand will be optimal. Female sea buckthorn plants are usually formed by bushes, male plants – by a low tree. If the plant is formed by one tree, one conductor and several skeletal branches are formed from the seedling. To form a trunk, the strongest shoot is left, the rest are removed.
After the formation of a sea buckthorn bush or tree, formative pruning will be reduced to cutting out incorrectly growing, thickening and unnecessary branches, as well as removing root shoots.
It must be cut out very carefully, digging up the soil to the place of growth and removing the shoot on the ring.
Pruning sea buckthorn depending on the age of the trees
The first three years after planting, the plant itself is formed. During this period of time, only sanitary and shaping pruning is done. After this period, the crown can be maintained in good condition with the help of regulatory pruning. It does not allow you to create dense branches, and also contributes to ventilation and good lighting of the internal space of the shrub.
Starting from the age of seven, the sea buckthorn bush will need rejuvenating pruning. If for some reason the tree is running, then it may also need a restoring one.
Normalizing pruning on sea buckthorn is usually not used. Even an abundantly fruiting shrub is not greatly depleted and normally manages without artificial regulation of productivity.
A link to a video for beginners about pruning sea buckthorn in the spring is given below.
How to prune sea buckthorn after planting
After planting a seedling of sea buckthorn in a permanent place, you need to decide how the future culture will be formed – a tree or a bush. Depending on this, the seedling will need to be carefully cut to a height of either 30 cm (if one trunk is formed), or 10–20 cm (if a bush). In the first case, the trunk will be the only conductor from which the skeletal branches of the tree will grow. In the second case, the plant will give numerous root shoots, from which an adult bush will subsequently be formed.
Pruning young sea buckthorn
In the second and third years after planting, the formation of sea buckthorn in the form of a tree or bush continues. At this stage, the forming pruning is performed as follows:
If a bush is formed, then 3–4 of the most developed shoots must be left from the formed root shoots, the rest should be removed. To keep the crown compact, for 2 and 3 years the shoots are cut by 1/3.
In sea buckthorn, which is formed according to a tree-like scheme, in the second year the conductor is pinched, 4–5 buds are left under it, all underlying ones are blinded. In the third year, all shoots are cut into one level. All root shoots are completely removed.
A video about pruning young sea buckthorn in the spring can be viewed at the link below.
Pruning old sea buckthorn in spring
For sea buckthorn trees and bushes aged 7 years and older, anti-aging pruning is recommended. This procedure aims to gradually replace the branches that have reduced productivity with younger shoots.
As a substitute, a powerful side shoot is usually chosen, to which the growth of a tree can be transferred. Sometimes tops are used for this purpose – vertically growing shoots. In this case, its position is corrected with the help of a twine, which is attached at one end to a bracket driven into the ground, and at the other keeps the top shoot in a horizontal position.
In some cases, you have to do a full anti-aging pruning. It consists in removing the bush or trunk completely and growing it again on the old root. Such a procedure can be carried out if the ground part of the plant was badly damaged in winter, but its roots remained alive. In this case, the entire formation cycle is repeated from scratch.
Sea buckthorn care after pruning
After pruning, fresh cuts should be cleaned with a garden knife to a smooth state and treated with a solution of copper sulphate. Then they can be covered with garden pitch based on beeswax or oil paint on drying oil. In addition, you can use natural-based garden putties, such as BlagoSad, Robin Green and others.
Sea buckthorn is a rather unpretentious plant, so no special events are carried out after pruning. Care consists in regular watering, but only in case of lack of precipitation. This culture equally poorly perceives both the lack of moisture and its excess.
With great care, one must also treat weeding and loosening the near-stem circle. Sea buckthorn has a large number of superficial roots that are very easy to damage with a garden tool. They lie at a depth of 5–25 cm, so loosening is done only superficially. Damage to the roots can lead to serious problems up to the death of the plant.
Spring pruning of sea buckthorn coincides in time with preventive spraying against diseases and pests. Therefore, these events are usually carried out in combination.
Conclusion
Pruning sea buckthorn is a serious and difficult, but necessary procedure. However, the efforts of the gardener will not be in vain. A beautifully formed tall sprawling bush covered with bright orange ripe berries can become a real decoration of a personal plot and the pride of its owner. No wonder many use sea buckthorn trees and shrubs as ornamental plants.
But do not forget that it is also a berry crop with tasty and healing fruits. And the pruning procedure has a positive effect on both the quantity of the crop and its quality.