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GARDEN DESIGN, INSTALLATION & GARDEN MAINTENANCE VICTORIA BC
Let our trained gardeners take on your garden maintenance including weeding, cultivating, and edging your flower beds to make sure your property looks its best. Properly maintained gardens and plants will be healthier and push out more colourful blooms all season long. Get the garden you want with none of the aching joints and sunburned shoulders.
Tom’s Garden Services provide professional gardening services that save you time. You don’t have to worry about finding the time to keep your gardens free of weeds or manicured the way they should be. Forget about fitting weeding, feeding, watering and pruning into your schedule. Tom’s Garden Services is based in Victoria BC, and with over 20 years experience in professional gardening, lawn care services, and residential and commercial landscaping services
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Victoria Gardening Services
How Tree Pruning Affects Plant Growth
Pruning trees in late winter and early spring before growth starts reduces the number of leaves produced the coming year. Less water and nutrients will be required because there is reduced top growth. The strong root system below supplying a reduced top, results in strong, succulent, rapidly growing shoots. This invigorating effect is present throughout the tree, but is most noticeable on those limbs which have been most severely pruned.
When a branch is pruned back, new shoots arise near the cut. The new shoots generally grow in the same direction that the buds were pointing. Thus, a bud on the inside of a branch will grow towards the centre of the tree and an outward facing bud will grow away from the centre of the tree.
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Just after transplanting, the tops of the trees should be pruned back to compensate for the loss of roots and to begin training the tree. This should not exceed one-third of the plant’s total top growth.
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To develop a strong framework to withstand winds, a tree should be pruned to a few strong limbs spaced well apart, up, down and around the trunk. This trains the tree for new and stronger growth.
To develop a shade tree with limbs coming off the trunk at a height greater than 1.6 to 2.4 metres, lower branches should be pruned off. Ideally pruning should be done over an extended period of time as the tree grows in height. If done all at once this can result in a weak, spindly tree that needs staking. If you are going to prune all at once it is best to prune those lower branches to short stubs. These stubs will eventually be removed. The short stubs act as sap drawers, putting out leafy shoots which manufacture food and draw up water and minerals resulting in a stouter, stronger trunk. These stubbed branches must be kept pruned back and can be removed completely after permanent scaffold branches (main crown) have been established.
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You should always prune trees to eliminate limbs with weak crotches that arise from the trunk at acute angles.
Similarly, make sure to prune your trees to eliminate limbs that cross each other or compete for the same space in the tree’s crown.
Prune trees to eliminate dead and diseased branches to improve the appearance of the tree and prevent entrance and spread of diseases and insects.
Prune to revitalize older trees by pruning out part of the crown of the tree, reducing the leaf area that the root system has to supply. More vigorous growth results in the remaining branches.
Finally, prune your trees to increase air circulation through the tree both for the tree’s benefit and to increase airflow into the landscape. More sunlight gets through the tree which is beneficial for lawn growth below.
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Dead, broken, weak or split branches, or low hanging branches which might be a hazard to people, vehicles or buildings should be removed. If you need help pruning your dead or broken tree branches, Toms Garden Services provides lawn care and maintenance services in Victoria, including tree pruning services. If you’re unsure of your tree safety, contact us today for a free estimate for tree pruning in Victoria.
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Pruning Deciduous Trees
How do you go about pruning deciduous trees? In general, deciduous trees and shrubs should be pruned when they are dormant, preferably in early spring just before growth starts. At this time, wound healing will begin almost at once and it will be most rapid. Dormant pruning will have less effect on the growth of trees than pruning when the tree is in active growth. Another advantage of dormant pruning with deciduous trees is that it is easier to select branches which should be removed when the leaves are gone. Dead limbs and those lacking in vigor can be pruned in mid-summer when they are easier to locate. Exceptions to the dormant pruning rule are maple, birch and elm trees which should be pruned when actively growing in mid-summer.
When pruned in early spring, these species may lose excessive amounts of sap. Pruning of maple trees and birch trees should not be done too late in the fall either, as wounds will not have a chance to heal before winter. Elm trees should not be pruned between April 15 and August 30, to prevent the spread of Dutch Elm Disease. When pruning deciduous trees, make all cuts close to, and parallel to, the trunk or crotch of the tree. In order to avoid damage to the main limb or trunk when cutting large branches, use the 3-step method illustrated below:
Most pines are best pruned in mid-June before the needles start to unfold. At this time, the new growth looks like candles. *It should be noted that the date of pruning will depend on the year and could be different each year. When these terminal shoots are soft they may be cut back to one-half to one-third of their length. This will control the length of subsequent growth for that season. New terminal buds will form at the cut ends by the end of the growing season and growth the following year will spread out from those points. (see below).
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If it is a matter of shortening shoot growth, spruce trees can be pruned by cutting the shoot back to a lateral bud in early spring before growth starts. (Pruning your spruce and fir trees should be done in mid-May to early June, before new buds for next year’s growth have been formed.) Growth will continue on from that bud as the season progresses. Density pruning of spruce and fir is best carried out after the growing points have elongated (see below). To control growth, prune half of the new growth early in the spring when the new growth has extended. This will increase the density of the tree much the same way as with the pines.
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Evergreens with soft growth such as junipers and cedars may be pruned by clipping back new growth preferably in early spring to mid-June. Clipping back the most vigorous branches once or twice a season will keep the plant dense without destroying the natural appearance.
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If a terminal branch of spruce, pine or fir is damaged in some way and must be removed, a lateral branch should be trained upwards to replace it. A strong branch from the uppermost whorl should be selected and carefully tied up to a stake like a splint. About 17 centimetres (cm) should be cut off the remaining branches of the whorl to direct more growth to the new leader. When two or more leaders are present, all but the strongest should be removed when the tree is relatively young.
When removing diseased material, tools should be disinfected in a five per cent Javex or alcohol solution between each cut. Always cut back to healthy wood. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with cutting or removing diseased tree branches, our team at Toms Lawns is happy to provide you with tree pruning services.
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The treatment of tree wounds with dressings is a controversial subject. While dressings do protect against the invasion of water, disease and insects, they also slow down the healing process. It is recommended that dressings only be used on cuts with a diameter over 15 cm. Be sure to use only dressings that are recommended for trees. Do not use ordinary paints!