CHAPTER VI 

 PRUNING FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 



THE art of pruning properly is one that is acquired 

 by considerable practice and observation. The first 

 is necessary that the actual work may be well and 

 cleanly done, and it is only by observing the manner 

 and times of flowering of the different trees and 

 shrubs which go to constitute a well-kept pleasure- 

 ground that the proper time to prune can be 

 thoroughly understood. The manner of pruning 

 varies considerably, some pinning their faith to a 

 slanting cut towards a bud ; some preferring a 

 straight cut ; while others again are content with 

 simply slashing off the useless wood in the quickest 

 possible manner. The former is the best method, 

 as it does not present a surface for the lodgment 

 of water, an important point with those shrubs that 

 are of a pithy nature in the centre of the wood, as 

 the presence of water will quickly cause the stems to 

 rot and render the plant unsightly, even if it escapes 

 serious injury. All stems that are an inch or more 

 in diameter should be tarred over to keep out the 

 wet, which either rots them directly or injures them 

 indirectly by making a moist, congenial home for the 

 various fungoid diseases to which so many of our 

 exotic trees and shrubs are liable. 



