Trimming trees in winter: equipment and instructions for gardeners

What is it for

Pruning branches of fruit trees and bushes in the garden in winter is carried out to form a full-fledged and healthy plant, which will bear fruit much better in the warm period. In the absence of operations to regulate the size of a tree, its growth will increase while simultaneously decreasing its fruitfulness. As a result, crop volumes are falling sharply, and its quality is poor. Winter pruning allows you to optimally regulate and correlate the growth and fruiting of plants.

The scheme for pruning fruit trees in winter can be carried out for the following purposes:

• forming pruning crown. It is carried out for seedlings in the first 2-4 years and allows you to effectively form the correct crown, increasing productivity. Especially relevant for stone fruit trees. Thanks to this pruning, a strong skeleton is created from strong branches that are evenly spaced with semi-skeletal shoots. Thus, the crown is well lit and blown by the winds, which speeds up the fruiting time of the seedlings;
• adjustable cut. Experienced gardeners know the approximate frequency of fruit crops planted in their garden. Annual winter pruning will allow you to get an excellent harvest from the trees every year. This aspect is relevant for beginner gardeners who do not yet know all the intricacies of gardening;
• pruning for rejuvenation. Such pruning is applicable only to mature trees. During it, old branches should be shortened, while leaving young shoots intact. Anti-aging pruning should be done once every 3-4 years, unlike other pruning options;
• restorative and sanitary pruning. During it, there is a removal of sick, dead, broken and diseased branches.

It must be remembered that reconciliation according to the lunar calendar will allow you to get a better result. The above manipulations, carried out a few days before the full moon, will affect the faster growth of new shoots. Existing types of pruning carried out in winter can be combined with each other to get the best result from your efforts.

Visible benefits

Winter pruning of the garden has its advantages. And they are even more noticeable. This is due to the fact that in winter trees and shrubs are at rest. Therefore, pruning carried out with minor violations (this is especially true for beginner gardeners) will not bring obvious negative and will not destroy the plants. Pruning in winter will not cause as much stress on trees and shrubs as in spring or autumn.

Another advantage of pruning in winter is the absence of leaves on the branches. This allows you to better highlight the branches that need to be deleted. As a result, the crown will be clearly visible, which will make it possible to thin it out well and prepare the tree for spring time. In winter, it is much easier to decide on the type of pruning, which is more necessary in this particular period of time.

In addition, winter pruning has other advantages:

• branches are much easier to cut;
• the likelihood of “burrs” on the wood is almost minimal;
• the ladder can be placed on either side of the crown, without fear of damaging neighboring plants;
• you can not rush with pruning. This is due to the fact that in winter the plants are at rest and there is plenty of time to catch up to the spring sap flow.

As you can see, winter pruning has a number of significant advantages compared to similar operations carried out in spring or autumn.

Video “How to properly care for fruit trees”

Pruning fruit trees

The pruning scheme that is carried out for fruit trees is not complicated and includes the following points:

• first, seed trees should be processed, then comes the turn of stone fruits;
• we start pruning from young seedlings to form a crown;
• The ideal height of garden trees should be three meters. In this case, the scope of the crown should be the same. This will allow you to harvest without ladders, as fruiting will go on the lower branches;
• rejuvenation is carried out only for those trees that are more than ten years old.

Moreover, each type of trimming has its own scheme. To rejuvenate plants, it will be as follows:

• every two years, the frame branches are shortened by 1-2 meters. But about this stage, many experts are ambiguous about the correctness and effectiveness of this approach. Therefore, this step is often skipped;
• on the south side of the crown, half of the main branches should be immediately cut to a length of 2,5-3 meters;
• emerging sprouts need to be shortened and thinned out;
• two years later, these manipulations are carried out from the north side.

As a result of such pruning, fruiting becomes stable and early, and the frost resistance of plants also increases.

For young seedlings, it is recommended to cut branches that extend at an angle of less than 45 degrees. This is especially true for those shoots that have cracks between the main branch and the trunk. Otherwise, in the future, such shoots may be scrapped.

For trees, winter pruning is carried out from January to March. Pruning at this time stimulates the growth of fruit crops most intensively. In this case, it is imperative to focus on the readings of the thermometer. The optimum air temperature for high-quality and efficient pruning should be at least 7 degrees.

If you properly prune trees in the garden, they will have convenient dimensions, and harvesting will become a comfortable procedure. If there are tree dimensions under three meters in height and the same width (for some species, this parameter can be in the range from 2,5 to 3 meters), you will not even need a ladder to completely harvest the entire crop from the plant. In addition, it will be possible to more compactly place fruit-bearing plants in the garden, which will significantly increase the total volume of the harvest collected from it. At the same time, the quality of the fruits will be excellent, and their sizes are quite large.

Separately, it is worth noting that winter pruning will allow you to put in order old and neglected trees up to 10 meters high, which were pruned many years ago. At the same time, it is recommended to reduce the height of the tree by 1-2 meters every 2-3 years. This must be done until the plant reaches the dimensions we need. But today, some gardeners believe that phased pruning is irrational. Therefore, the method of simultaneous removal of branches to the desired size is now widely practiced.

Pruning shrubs

Few people know, but fruit bushes (gooseberries, currants, etc.) should also be pruned. And do it in the winter. At this time, it is necessary to remove dried and old branches, which will ensure an unhindered flow of light and air in the summer. The main thing here is not to overdo it, so as not to reduce the viability of the plant, as well as its fruitful potential.

As you can see, winter pruning of fruit bushes and trees will allow you to minimize the risk of injury to plants and carry out all manipulations in the most comfortable conditions. In the spring, you will need to do much less work to improve your garden to get a big harvest.

Video “We cut the fruit correctly”

We bring to your attention, using the example of an apple tree, to familiarize yourself with how to properly prune fruit trees on the eve of winter.