Growing shrubbery plants in the house adjoining territory, cottage or in the garden, special attention is paid to proper care. Pruning shrubs often goes by the wayside, and in vain. Indeed, growing, bushes become voluminous, their crowns lose their attractive appearance. Therefore, their pruning is an important agricultural measure. It is carried out in compliance with the deadlines and taking into account the characteristics of different types of crops. Read about it in the article.
How is cropping done?
There are two ways to carry out the procedure:
- Shortening branches.
- Thinning bush.
Both methods have one goal - to redistribute nutrients across all branches. This stimulates the plant, shoots begin to grow rapidly. In the process of trimming the kidneys it becomes smaller, as a result of which the path from the roots to the leaves is reduced, and the growth of the plant is enhanced.
The shortening of the branches is carried out when it is necessary to partially remove the upper part of the shoot. Thanks to this procedure, the thickness of the branches increases, young shoots grow rapidly, and the buds intensively develop. Thinning is carried out in the case when you need to delete all branches. Such pruning of bushes does not allow them to thicken, preventing the appearance of pests in them and the development of various diseases.
What types of pruning are there?
It depends on what result is expected from this procedure. In general, there are several types of pruning shrubs:
- Sanitary.
- Formative.
- Anti-aging.
In order for the bush to please for a long time with lush flowering, lush greenery, a beautiful crown, it is important to perform all types of pruning, alternating them depending on the timing.
Sanitary pruning
All shrub plants are subjected to this procedure. It is carried out in the autumn period. Its main goal is to prevent the infectious processes that plants undergo, and prevent their decay. The procedure for pruning shrubs is simple. It is necessary to remove all damaged and broken branches, and in order for the crown to be well ventilated, it should be thinned out. To do this, part of the unripened branches growing inside the bush must be cut off at the level of two to three centimeters above the bud.
Forming pruning
In the autumn, this procedure is carried out only for shrubs that bloom in summer. If you cut the plants blooming in spring, their decorativeness will significantly deteriorate, since flowers are formed on the shoots of last year. With the help of molding pruning of shrubs, ordinary plants are turned into ornamental plants, for which each year several shoots with great growth force are added to the key branches.
In some shrubs, root growth quickly grows, which increases them too wide, so during the formation you need to remove shoots around the perimeter. But you should not be too zealous, as this can affect the density of the crown of the plant, it will become loose and unsightly. First of all, weak branches coming from the roots are removed. It is allowed to trim and strong shoots directed inside the bush, interfering with nearby growing strong branches. The most correct will be to leave those shoots that will replace the sick or old in the future.
In shrubs with poor winter hardiness, the formation of dry branches is a common occurrence. They should be removed during trimming. The cut must be done above the second level from the base of the kidney. If individual branches have died and spoil the decorative bush, you need to get rid of them. During wintering, the upper shoots may freeze, although frost did not affect the laden branches. In this case, they just need to be tied up and left.
Rejuvenating pruning
It is carried out on adult shrubs so that their flowering is more magnificent. Anti-aging pruning is also performed on plants with annual growth of less than seven centimeters. This procedure is to shorten the old branches. After it, sleeping and accessory kidneys activate their growth. Shrubs are trimmed in time. This can be done from the last month of winter to April, as well as in August and September.
The rejuvenating procedure is to cut the branches 30% from the top itself after the end of the flowering period. To make it even more abundant, remove one, the oldest branch in the bush. Shrubs should be rejuvenated once every two years.
Indications for radical rejuvenation
This procedure is necessary if the shrub is no longer able to produce both strong and weak shoots. In this case, all branches are cut at the same level with the ground. But if the formation of the plant occurred on a stock, then the cut is done 10-15 cm above the grafting. Only in this way can the kidneys become activated and give a new growth of shoots. After one or two seasons, pruning of weak as well as poorly located branches is carried out.
Ornamental shrubs
They are grown for use in landscaping. Trimming ornamental shrubs is done to give them an attractive look. The first procedure is carried out during the planting period, in the spring. The shoots of young seedlings are shortened by 10-15 cm. Three to five buds are left on each. Of these, new shoots will grow during the first year. During the autumn pruning of shrubs, they get rid of broken, sick, dry and lying shoots on the ground. If during the first year the growth of the bush was weak, all shoots are cut off at the level of three to five centimeters above the ground.
In the second year of life, the shrub forms powerful branches in the amount of several pieces. In autumn it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning. The cut must be done at the very base. If necessary, this pruning is repeated in the spring. But it should be carried out until the kidneys have swollen and the movement of juice has begun.
In the future, when pruning, it should be remembered that only during the first year of life, the branches grow rapidly, then their growth rate decreases, and by the age of five or six years it completely stops. The formation of the crown of shrubs ends in the fourth or fifth year after their planting.
The ratio of shoots on the artisanal plant type
Looking at the bush, it is very difficult to "determine" by eye how many and what shoots it has. But to know their ratio by age, perhaps, does not hurt. Each bush has four to five annual branches, two-year branches three-four, three-four-five summer branches two-three. Old branches that are more than five to six years old are removed completely.
Forming a decorative shrub, it should be remembered that when removing shoots, their physiological condition, strength and direction of growth are taken into account. Therefore, the above ratio can always change, but this does not mean that the bush is not formed correctly.
Hedge pruning
The appearance of such a structure from a growing shrub depends on how it will be formed during the first year after planting. Gardeners often do not attach importance to this and do not cut plants for several years, leaving this procedure for later.
Without pruning, at the beginning of growth, the branches of the shrub will stretch upward, and the hedge in its lower part will be exposed. To avoid this, during the first year of the planting's life, you need to cut all the shoots at a level of 15 cm above the ground surface. Powerful basal layers will begin to grow.
After a year, you again need to do the same pruning, which will help to properly form the crown. If its density is insufficient, a strong crop will be required for next year. In the third year of the life of the bush and in all subsequent years, only cosmetic pruning should be done, since a strong radical growth will finally form.
Trimming
In the landscape design, once the most fashionable were the alpine slides, well-groomed lawns. But time goes on, the fashion for the arrangement of the territory is changing. Currently, a new trend in this direction has become very popular - curly pruning of shrubs, which is one of the types of garden art and is called topiary. Skilful hands of craftsmen turn shrubs into masterpieces that adorn not only gardens and parks, but also palaces. Unusual shapes are created, usually from evergreen or small-leaved plants. Crowns of bushes and trees are trimmed using geometric shapes.
Cone
This shape is the easiest to crop. It will be easier to give the plant, if it is naturally conical in shape. Haircut should begin with the crown, from its top, gradually going down. To make the cone proportional, use poles. They are placed next to the barrel on four sides, and the tops are collected slightly above the crown. It turns out a pyramid. Those branches that go beyond its outline are cut. This geometric shape is suitable for barberry, juniper.
Ball
This geometric figure can be obtained by trimming shrubs such as laurel, gooseberries. The process is time-consuming, but it can be facilitated if the template is made of wire in advance, which is a ring with a handle. The main condition is that the width should be less than the crown. The ring is attached to the bush, and excess branches are cut. If a plant is naturally spherical, it just needs to be maintained.
Spiral
This element is very effective, but also rather complicated. It can be used on shrubs that have a cone shape. You can trim the plant so that a spiral is obtained in two ways:
- Using a regular ribbon that you need to wrap around the crown. The plant sections located between the turns are trimmed. It needs a lot of accuracy.
- Another method is carried out using a stick, which is inserted into the ground at a short distance from the bush and attached to it. You need to take the rope, fix it at the very top of the stick and lower it in a spiral down. Shoots need to be cut to the trunk, which is considered the main, observing the shape outlined by a rope.
Gardening Tools
They are needed for “cutting” plants in which the branches have different thicknesses. Therefore, tools for cutting bushes are for various purposes.
- Secateurs are devices with which branches with a diameter of up to two and a half centimeters are cut. They come in two types: with curved and straight blades. The principle of operation of the first type is like that of scissors. The main goal in working with him is to cut a thick shoot with high quality, without gaps. To do this, the tool must be well sharpened and have a gap between the blades. In the second type of secateurs, the blade is straight, during operation it rests on the plate, more precisely on its end. The advantage of this mechanism is the absence of the need to check the gap between the blades, and the disadvantage is the inability to get to hard-to-reach places.
- Delimbers. This tool easily copes with thick shoots with a diameter of five centimeters. With it, you can remove branches deep in the lush crown, where other tools can not get. Its type is a delimbing knot, which is used to trim branches growing at a sufficiently high height.
- Saw. It is used to remove branches that are too thick. The teeth at the saw reach five to seven millimeters in height and are divorced quite widely, so they do not clog with wood during operation.
- A knife is the most demanded garden tool; thin branches are cut and cleaned with it, the bark is cut, the curved cuts are corrected.
- Scissors for cutting bushes. Gardeners use them to form a curly crown, a decorative hedge. With their help, shrubs are given an interesting shape.
- A stepladder is a garden tool, without which it is difficult to care for a bush. The staircase must be stable and its legs wide apart. So it will be more stable.
What to feed after trimming?
Regardless of the season of the procedure, plants need enhanced nutrition, since it is at this time that the vegetative mass increases. An indication for soil fertilizer is a decrease in the concentration of nutrients in it. Plants need nitrogen and potassium at this time. You can use a solution prepared by yourself. Take potassium nitrate (three spoons) and water (10 liters). Everything is mixed, after which this composition is used to water the bush under the root. You can use nitrofoska or a mixture of urea with ash in a proportion of 30 and 100 g, respectively, per bucket of water.
If pruning of bushes is carried out in August or September, plants are in urgent need of phosphorus, since in this period of time there is an active formation of the root system. Fertilizer scatters on the soil surface in near-stem circles of plants. Its application is combined with watering.
The most effective top dressing of both ornamental and fruit shrubs is compost infusion. For this, a pound of organics is diluted in 10 liters of water, insisted for two or three days and watered plants in the evening when the sun has set. If the summer is hot and drought lasts a long time, first the trunks are watered with plain water, and then with a solution.