Pruning
Pruning is a technique used in gardening and farming to encourage the growth of new branches and leaves, as well as to maintain the plant’s size and avoid breakage. Pruning a tree or plant allows the gardener to remove sick or damaged portions or branches. Also, the tree’s size can be reduced. Fruiting trees, blooming shrubs, hedges, and bushes can all be pruned
METHODS OF PRUNING
Clean up Pruning : Clean-up pruning removes dead or diseased branches from the tree, reducing the number of branches that fall from the tree. It also reduces the possibility of decay or insect pests spreading to the tree’s healthy portions. Because it does not remove live branches from the tree, this form of pruning is commonly used on mature trees
Thinning : This sort of pruning is done to remove the tree’s overgrowing branches. This allows sunlight to pass through the tree. We can reduce the weight of the major branches by thinning them. It allows air to flow through the tree’s foliage. This strategy aids in the preservation of a tree’s shape. The wind resistance of the trees is reduced when they are thinned.
Raising : Raising is the process of removing lower branches from a tree in order to offer some ground clearance and to encourage shoots to grow more quickly.
Pollarding : Pollarding is a method of pruning that involves removing all branches except those that are attached to the main trunk. This is done when the trees are young and at regular intervals during the tree’s lifespan. This keeps the tree’s height and growth consistent, as well as improving the tree’s growth and the growth of little branches.
Reduction : Reduction Pruning is a technique for reducing the size of a tree by cutting away overgrown branches. This is most commonly done with larger trees that are planted in compact spaces. It is recommended to reduce the size of the tree before it grows too huge, as doing so later becomes more difficult
PRUNING BENEFITS
Promote Plant Health : Pruning removes dead and unhealthy branches to make place for new ones. It prevents disease or insect infestation from spreading to the tree’s healthy branches or components. As a result, it contributes to the general health of the plant.
Encourages Fruit Roduction : In fruiting trees, pruning is the only way to ensure consistent and high-quality fruit production. When trees are pruned, the wind of nutrition flow is stopped, allowing nutrients to travel to all parts of the tree, resulting in overall fruit bearing and high-quality fruit
Tree Safety : If a tree is not pruned at regular intervals, it will grow too large, which will increase its resistance to wind, causing the branches to collapse. It also lets disease and pests to spread to healthy areas of the tree, whereas a well-pruned tree has a table branch structure that allows it to better support its own weight.
Enhances Beauty : Pruning reduces the quantity of wood on a plant, allowing more energy to be accessible to the plant. Pruning increases the number of young shoots that bear blooms, which helps to create healthy and huge blossoms. Some trees have wonderfully coloured shoots, leaves, or stems. Pruning encourages new development in such plants, making them more attractive.
Improves or Suppresses Growth : You can trim a tree to obtain or stimulate new shoot growth, or you can prune a tree to regulate or suppress growth on the other hand.
Allow Sunshine : Plants, in general, require sunlight for photosynthesis and growth. Pruning at the right time permits sunlight to reach every part of the tree. As a result, it enhances photosynthesis, allowing the plant to develop more vigorously and eventually bear fruits and flowers.
Quality Fruiting and Flowering : When a plant or tree is not trimmed in a timely manner, nutrient flow is diverted to certain sections of the tree. This decreases the quantity and quality of fruits and blooms. Pruning, on the other hand, encourages the growth of new branches, and as we all know, new shoots have a higher quality and quantity of buds, thus pruning aids in increasing the quality and quantity of fruits and flowers.