Tree Pruning Calendar 2022: Deadlines and Rules

Auspicious days

Lunar cycles affect all biological processes occurring on Earth. Fruit trees are also influenced by the moon and stars: sap flow is more active during the waning moon, as well as under all signs of the Zodiac, except for Pisces, Aquarius and Cancer.

Nevertheless, tree pruning according to the lunar calendar in 2022 should also take into account the climatic features of the period of the year and the region of residence. For example, in some latitudes with a southern climate, pruning can begin even in February, while in others, the procedure often has to be postponed until the last decade of April.

In the spring

In the spring, a thorough preparation of fruit trees for flowering and fruiting begins. According to the weather calendar, spring pruning should begin after the last snow has melted, when all shelters have already been removed, and the air temperature has risen to above zero, and sap flow has not begun.

A procedure is carried out to remove excess stems with three main goals:

• sanitization includes pruning of all dry, spoiled or damaged twigs;
• forming processing is aimed at forming the correct shape of the tree by trimming;
• restorative treatment is carried out with the intention of rejuvenating the tree by removing all old branches from it.

The lunar tree pruning calendar 2022 recommends starting the procedure for removing branches from apple trees. It is this tree that begins to form them the earliest – in January. In addition to forming and sanitizing, apple trees are additionally spudded.

Restoration work with plums resembles apple trees, but plum wood is more fragile and requires extremely careful shortening by one bud.

When work with the apple and plum trees is over, you can start processing stone fruit trees (cherries, sweet cherries, etc.). Usually such pruning begins in March, when the temperature rises to -5 ° C. Around the same time, gardeners are busy with pear trees, cutting off their main branches by ¼.

After the trees, it is customary to deal with berry bushes, such as gooseberries, wild roses, raspberries, etc. For berry bushes in the spring, only sanitization is carried out, the purpose of which is to get as many branches with buds as possible.

This treatment is carried out in two stages: before the buds appear and after the buds have given leaves. During the first stage, all broken, frozen, damaged or weak branches are removed from the shrubs. During the second, they do the same, but now they walk more carefully through the bush, cutting out all the damaged stems.

Gooseberries and raspberries are processed according to similar principles. First of all, all frozen branches are removed, after which they proceed to shortening the lower branches and the weakest shoots.

The lunar tree pruning calendar in 2022 highlights as auspicious days:

• March: 3, 4, 11, 18, 19, 22, 23, 28, 29;
• April: 1, 4, 5, 14, 15.

In the autumn

Pruning fruit trees in autumn is a rather rare procedure, since the trees run the risk of freezing, and even worse, dying in the event of sharp early frosts. For example, this applies to a pear, which has rather weak protective properties and the places of cuts on its branches freeze very quickly.

However, autumn pruning can be very useful for trees that need to be stripped of “used” branches. It is better to have time to finish pruning by the end of the sowing season (end of October) – the moment when a period of long rainfall begins.

Since you will have to walk around the tree during processing, you run the risk of trampling the wet earth at the base of the trunk, which will greatly limit the access of oxygen to the root system. To avoid this problem, it is recommended to use a stepladder or lay the earth around the tree with a plank.

As for fruit trees, they are formed in autumn only if strongly shading branches have grown over the summer that interfere with the growth of fruits. It is really better to cut such branches right away, after which you can start processing the grapes.

It is for grapes that autumn pruning is considered the most effective, allowing you to concentrate all plant components inside healthy branches. After removing the broken, heavily shading and diseased shoots, the grapes are closed for the winter with dense polyethylene.

As for berry bushes, all non-fruiting shoots are removed from them, and they also try to remove weak or old branches. This must be done after the end of fruiting – for rare varieties, this period can be delayed until November.

Favorable autumn days according to the lunar calendar 2022 will be:

• September: 1, 6, 7, 15, 16, 26, 27, 28;
• October: 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 25, 29, 30, 31;
• November: 4, 5, 9, 10, 25, 26, 27, 28.

Bad days

Unfavorable days for any garden work (including pruning) are the days when the Earth’s satellite changes its cycle – the full moon and the new moon. The days of the rising moon are also not recommended, since it is during this period that the sap flow is directed upwards, making the cut points too sensitive.

In the spring

The climate calendar recommends postponing spring pruning until the snow cover melts and the air temperature rises to at least -5 ° C. Weaker crops (for example, grapes) are recommended not to be touched at all until the moment when the shelter can be finally removed. However, the lunar calendar supplements these recommendations by highlighting unfavorable days:

• March: 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 24, 25;
• April: 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 29, 30.

In the autumn

Unfavorable days for autumn pruning will be the dates preceding the imminent onset of frost. As regards the limitations of astrologers, they are as follows:

• September: 2, 9, 25;
• October: 1, 9, 24;
• November: 1, 7, 23.

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