So, you’ve stored away your lawn equipment, picked up leaves, and applied your winterizer for the winter season. But have you prepped your landscaping plants, too? Expert pruning in late winter is vital to continuing the healthy growth of your trees and shrubs. Pruning your plants isn’t only for the visual appeal of a shapely plant. It also encourages vigorous spring growth and wards off winter diseases. Let’s dive into the benefits of winter pruning for your Fargo-Moorhead trees and shrubs.
What Is Winter Pruning?
Winter pruning is the valuable process of removing tree and shrub branches to prep plants for springtime. By carefully removing excess growth from March to April, you make space for the remaining plant to thrive. If you feel brand-new after a fresh haircut, imagine how your trees and shrubs feel after a thorough clean-up! It’s an excellent method to prevent illness and disease in the winter and nurture beautiful new growth come spring.
The Benefits Of Winter Pruning
Winter pruning provides both aesthetic and health advantages for your woody plants, making it an essential step in any Fargo homeowner’s winter preparation routine.
- Encouraging healthy growth in spring: Removing dead and excess stems reduces branch crowding and plant density, giving way to lusher growth in the spring.
- Shape and structure improvement: Snipping away unruly and out-of-place branches helps restore the plant’s tidy structure and makes spring growth more appealing.
- Disease prevention: Winter pruning is also an opportune time to eliminate diseased branches and prevent spreading infections like fire blight, which commonly attacks rose bushes. Removing dead growth also prevents fungal growth and bacterial infections.
- Increase air circulation and sunlight penetration: A spacious tree canopy allows plenty of sunlight and fresh air to surround the plant, making the environment less favorable for winter fungal diseases.
Our Pruning Techniques For Trees & Shrubs
As expert arborists, our team follows strict pruning techniques to ensure the best health, safety, and appearance of your woody plants. Here are a few proven methods we follow to guarantee that your shrubs are pristine for the spring.
- Thinning. Thinning removes selective branches from the canopy’s interior, eliminating crowded branches. Instead of reducing the plant size, we remove unwanted dead, diseased, or weak branches. This method gives the more substantial branches space to thrive.
- Heading back. Our arborists trim the branch tips to a lateral bud or branch, which promotes branching and denser foliage. Unlike thinning, heading back focuses on shortening the length of existing branches to create a defined shape and specific appearance.
- Crown reduction. We use the crown reduction technique to reduce the overall size and height of the shrubs and trees, maintaining their natural form and preventing them from growing into obstacles. Crown reduction also improves the structural integrity of the plants, strengthening and reducing stress on the shrubs.
The Importance Of Winter Pruning Expertise In The FM Area
Winter pruning is a strategic landscaping task that improves your trees and shrubs’ overall health and beauty. While homeowners can learn how to prune their own plants, having a local professional maintain your trees and shrubs has considerable benefits. Our seasoned arborists can properly time pruning to stimulate strong growth for optimal development. They also have a trained eye to spot developing diseases and pest infestations so that they can make quick and accurate diagnoses. Consulting with a pruning professional provides proper pruning services and valuable insights into the health of your plants.
Transform Your Landscape With Expert Winter Pruning
Manny’s Lawn & Snow is dedicated to the health and beauty of your North Dakota and Minnesota landscape. Our trusted team of landscapers is ready to prepare your trees for spring with detailed winter pruning. Reach us today at (701) 361-0556 or contact us here to get a quote on our tree and shrub services.