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Suggestions for Pruning Evergreens 
T HE pruning of conifers is, perhaps, a 
little more difficult to explain than the 
pruning of any other woody plants. 
It seems needless to say that removal of the 
lower branches is a serious mistake, and, if 
healthy, they should be retained to the base. 
Pines, spruces, firs, and hemlocks have 
conical pyramidal outlines, some more so 
than others, and the elements of beauty 
consist in accentuating these attributes. Prun¬ 
ing or disbudding can be intelligently per¬ 
formed to add much to the natural sym¬ 
metry. The extraction or removal, early in 
Spring, of the central or terminal bud, will 
tend to compel the branches which start from 
the side buds to spread apart and form a 
much denser growth. 
Cutting back the previous year’s terminal 
growth to a strong bud or branchlet on the 
main limbs over the tree, if the plant is in¬ 
clined to be thin in its branching, always 
produces a much denser lateral growth. 
In the case of hemlocks, owing to the na¬ 
ture of their terminal growths, the removal 
of the central terminal bud cannot be accom¬ 
plished very well, as the bud is very minute. 
The best method is to cut back the terminal 
branches to strong branchlets or buds, and 
a much denser growth will soon follow. 
Pyramidal junipers and arborvitae, in 
which the object is to develop very dense 
pyramidal habits, are often clipped with 
shears in spring before growth starts to pro¬ 
duce density of growth. In nurseries in 
which there are thousands of such plants, it 
may be a matter of business to treat them 
in this way, in order to facilitate the work. 
However, on private plantations it is better 
to use a sharp pruning-knife, or good stand¬ 
ard pruning-shears, and cut the branches or 
projecting shoots back in “shingling” fash¬ 
ion. When carefully pruned in this way, the 
trees present a more pleasing appearance and 
do not show such a stiff aspect as when shorn 
with the shears. When pruning is skillfully 
performed, the ordinary observer cannot de¬ 
tect what the pruner has done. 
Pruning or disbudding of conifers requires 
very intelligent observation, and one should 
have the desired results definitely in mind. 
Of course, there are different opinions about 
the pruning of conifers, some growers pre¬ 
ferring to leave them entirely alone. How¬ 
ever, a little pruning and disbudding in the 
juvenile state develops natural beauty. This 
applies to conifers from an ornamental stand¬ 
point, but from an economic or forestry point 
of view this pruning has no application 
whatever. 
From “ Cultivated Evergreens by Bailey 
How We Measure Sizes 
The sizes quoted in all Hill Evergreens rep¬ 
resent the height of the tree above the earth 
ball. For instance, 2 to 3 feet means the 
trees will average 2 J /2 feet high, not counting 
the extreme tip or the earth ball. In the 
case of creeping trees and dwarfs, the size 
quoted is the width of the tree. 
41 
