Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange
Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [pruning]

Questions about how to best cut plant branches, vines or stems. For questions about root pruning please use the [root-pruning] tag.

"Pruning" is the act of cutting a plant's branch (typically of a or ), or (of a , , etc.).

Pruning is performed primarily to produce a better shaped plant, or to promote new growth of branches or .

In many cases, prunings (i.e. the discarded branches) can be used as to create new plants.

In rare situation even roots could be pruned to remove rotten parts, or to be able to remove a plant from an outgrown pot, etc. For questions like these use the tag.

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How do you prune a rose bush?

I tried to prune a rose bush and it stopped growing from all the branches I pruned, and instead shot one big green stem up from the root again. What is the proper technique?
Scott Stafford
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How should I prune my vine tomatoes?

I've been growing my tomatoes up a 6ft trellis of nylon netting for the last couple of years, with good results. But they tend to grow out of control, eventually toppling over the trellis and breaking their branches, and parts of the branches will…
nicholas a. evans
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How should I prune lemon trees?

I have a lemon tree that is 8 years old. I didn't water it enough during its first years, and as a result it's only 2 meters (6 feet) high. How and when should I prune my lemon tree to stimulate its growth?
Jonathan
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What is the proper way to prune a Fig Tree?

I have a fig tree that is 5-10 years old. Currently I just remove the dead branches. What is the proper technique for fig pruning?
asalamon74
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How should I prune an overgrown peach tree?

I have just moved into a home with a peach tree that appears healthy, but overgrown; it has clearly not been pruned in many years (although I have cut out some of the branches that made it impossible to walk under the tree). How can I help this tree…
David LeBauer
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Is it possible to indefinitely limit the growth of trees, hedges, and shrubs?

Now that I've lived in my very nicely landscaped first home for over 10 years, I have several "overgrown" trees, hedges, and shrubs (mostly, but not all evergreens) in my landscaping, and at this point I'm pretty sure it's impossible to do anything…
glenviewjeff
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How frequently should I prune a tomato plant?

My tomato plant is about 6 months old and about a foot and a half tall. How often should you prune your tomato plant during this stage? Is it possible to over prune the plant? I usually use the pinch method of removing stems. About my tomato plant.…
chrisjlee
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What should I do with my Cherry trees?

I have a pair of large (roughly 30' tall I guess) cherry trees. They're mossy. They don't produce well (at least not for the 2 seasons we've had them for). What they do produce is so high that I can't net or harvest the fruit safely. The branches…
Tim
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What is the maximum number of trusses for a tomato plant?

I have 6 tomato plants of different varieties grown in planters outdoors. I have heard that there is a recommended limit to the number of trusses (bunches of fruit or number of branches bearing fruit) on a plant after which you should crop the top…
Johnny Maelstrom
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How should a long neglected grape-vine be pruned?

Our recently purchased home has a lot of old fruit and vegetable plantings that were mostly left alone for the past few years. Among these is a set of three grape vines on a group of metal trellises. We've cleared out the weeds that were growing…
JSBձոգչ
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How should I prune this overgrown pear tree?

I have a pear tree, which is very zealous. Whatever it decides to do, it does in excess. First in the spring it sends out all sorts of new branches--all of them vertical. I snipped them off after they grew a few feet, but they merely resumed their…
Dale
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How do I maintain a Raspberry plant?

I planted a raspberry cane this spring, and it appears to be doing well, having put out a new cane that is now 5 ft tall (and curving under its own weight.) There is also old growth at the bottom that bore fruit this year. What do I do to this…
Chris Cudmore
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Encouraging fig or similar into canopy: what to do with site of severed limbs?

This is a fig tree which has been pruned with a chainsaw down low and with normal secateurs up high. Down the bottom on the left you can see the nodule where a limb about 13cm (5 inches) in diameter has been severed. The idea here is to encourage…
Lisa
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How and When to prune a Montmorency Cherry Tree?

I recently acquired a Montmorency Cherry tree that is a couple of years old. I want to make sure it grows in a healthy, maintainable way, but my only experience of pruning fruit trees is with apples. Should I treat this tree the same way as an…
baka
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Is there a traditional method/style for pruning a Chocolate Silk tree?

I have a containerized Chocolate Silk (a.k.a. Summer Chocolate) tree that is two years old (i.e. it was planted in its present container from a branchless and rootless stalk two years ago). It has grown robustly each year, but the foliage seems…
Adam Wuerl
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