CHAPTER III 

 PRUNING 

 REASONS FOR PRUNING. The reasons for pruning are: 



(1) To secure a desired form or height of the plant; 



(2) To remove injured, diseased, or dead branches; 



(3) To renovate or rejuvenate old plants; 



(4) To maintain a balance between root growth and top growth (as shown in the 



operations of transplanting) ; 



(5) To encourage the production of an abundance of flowers; 



(6) To encourage the production of a few large flowers; 



(7) To improve or modify the natural form of the plant for some specific reason 



such as in topiary work and hedge work. 



Pruning, however, is only a phase in the care of plants and must 

 be accompanied by constant good cultivation, feeding, and management 

 of plants. It is only through the process of intelligent pruning that 

 shrubs especially can be maintained in a definite and natural condi- 

 tion of growth and also kept at a correct height to avoid in many 

 instances the out-growing or over-powering of the design for which 

 they were selected to become a part. Many incorrect ideas have be- 

 come prevalent concerning the process of pruning, and the application 

 of these incorrect methods often causes a slowing up or incorrect 

 development not only in the growing habits of the shrubs but in the 

 quality and the quantity of the flowers produced. 



PRECAUTIONS TO OBSERVE. Pruning should be done only with a 

 definite ideal and after arranging an intelligent program. No set 

 rules can be offered. Climatic conditions may cause rules correct in 

 one locality to prove valueless in another, and plants of the same 

 species often vary in their habit of growth at different ages, and 

 must be pruned accordingly. Pruning should be entrusted only to 

 a careful workman. It is too common practice in pruning to have 

 shrubs and trees with all the tips lightly snipped off with regularity; 

 or to have trees with the main and lateral branches ruthlessly lopped 



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