CHAPTER XLII 

 PRUNING REQUIREMENTS 



THE question of the necessary pruning required by various trees and 

 shrubs is a natural one. Many persons are under the impression that 

 every tree and shrub requires a certain amount of pruning each year. 

 Many are under the further impression that all of this pruning should 

 be done in the winter and spring, while others are under the impres- 

 sion that it should be done during the summer or fall. 



The most important fact to be known in connection with the opera- 

 tion of pruning is that one should be thoroughly familiar with the 

 flowering characteristics of the plants to be pruned. Our lawn shrubs 

 especially, which are often subject to the most indiscriminate kinds of 

 pruning, comprise a group of plants with which this chapter is con- 

 cerned. Pruning is done for various purposes, as outlined and dis- 

 cussed in the chapter on Pruning. The question under discussion in 

 this chapter is whether or not all shrubs shall be pruned at a definite 

 season of the year, and if not, what are the special reasons why this 

 standard method of procedure should not be adopted. 



As referred to in the foregoing paragraph, before any pruning of 

 shrubs is attempted it is essential to recognize their flowering habits. 

 The operation of pruning necessarily involves the removal not only of 

 dead wood but of much wood which is alive and growing; wood which 

 produces flowers and, subsequently, fruit. The spring and early 

 summer-blooming trees and shrubs produce flowers from buds which 

 are formed upon the wood during the previous growing season. These 

 embryo flowers contained within the buds have existed in the bud form 

 since the wood of the previous season had begun to ripen, and they are 

 protected by the scales or outer covering of the bud until such time 

 as the temperature has been sufficient to encourage their growth. It 

 is therefore clear that any pruning which is done upon such plants 

 during the late winter or early spring months, prior to the time when 

 these plants have produced their flowers, is an operation whereby a 

 greater or less quantity of flowers is deliberately removed from the plant. 



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