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This article was written by
Maryland Master Wildlife Habitat
Naturalist Elaine Friebele.
For more information or for the
name of a Master Wildlife Habitat
Naturalist in your area, please
contact:
WindStar Wildlife Institute
10072 Vista Court
Myersville, Maryland 21773
Phone: 301-293-3351
E-mail: wildlife@windstar.org
http://www.windstar.org
WindStar Wildlife Institute is a
national, non-profit, conservation
organization whose mission is to
help individuals and families
establish or improve the wildlife
habitat on their properties.
Photography by Thomas G. Barnes
Extension Wildlife Specialist &
Associate Professor of Forestry,
University of Kentucky
PRUNING GUIDELINES
(1) Prune when branches are broken off by wind, snow, or ice,
producing ragged wounds that do not seal.
You can increase the strength, longevity, and overall health of the
tree by substituting pruning for absent natural healing processes.
(2) Prune living branches late in the dormant season or very early in
spring before leaves form.
This allows maximum wound closure in the growing season after
pruning, reduces the chance of transmitting disease, and
discourages excessive sap flow from wounds.
Chemicals emitted from recent wounds can actually attract
insects that spread tree disease. Wounded elm wood attracts bark
beetles that harbor spores of the Dutch elm disease fungus;
wounds on oaks attract beetles that spread the oak wilt fungus.
(3) Prune shrubs regularly.
Pruning is also the key to maintaining the long-term health and
shapeliness of shrubs. If you remove older stems regularly as the
shrubs reach maturity, you will encourage the development of young
shoots. This will also allow shrubs to function as small trees,
arching over pathways and framing views.
(4) To save the current year’s flower crop on flowering trees and
shrubs, prune immediately after flowering.
(5) If your shrub needs a fresh start, it can be cut back to the ground,
either just after flowering or in late winter.
The shrub’s stored energy will then be directed into the production
of new wood.
(6) Use sharp tools and make clean cuts.
(7) Make proper pruning cuts at a node.
A node is the point at which one branch or twig attaches to
another. (In the spring of the year, growth begins at buds, and twigs
grow until a new node is formed.) For proper pruning technique,
request the brochure, USDA, How to Prune Trees, U.S. Forest
Service publication NA-FR-01-95.
(8) Avoid topping – the practice of cutting large upright branches at
right angles between nodes, to reduce the height of the tree.
To regulate the tree’s size and shape, start pruning early in the life
of the tree.
(9) Leave dead trees (snags), fallen trees, and perches.
A snag is a bird’s idea of a fast food restaurant – a perching place
filled with available food. The bark and soft wood of dead trees,
whether standing or fallen, are home to the larvae and adults of
many types of insects.
Scores of birds and mammals use snags for nesting and perching
sites, territory establishment, and a food source. A snag should be
at least 6 in. in diameter and 15 ft. tall.
