Pruning in winter promotes growth, while summer pruning limits growth.

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There’s a few thing to keep in mind before cutting back your trees and shrubs this winter. Here’s a list to follow to make things a tad easier and more doable.  Keep in mind that winter pruning promotes growth as well as watersprouts and suckers - so don't go crazy. If you want to restrict growth while reducing watersprouts and suckers, then go easy now and prune in summer. 

Not all trees and shrubs need to be pruned. If it is flowering well, looks good, isn’t in the way and is doing what it is supposed to do, leave it alone.
For more on pruning click here. For rose pruning, click here. ​

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Winter Pruning In the garden

Cut back Group B clematis in winter. Featured the large-flowered clematis 'Piilu'.

• Prune summer and fall flowering plants if needed. Clematis: Group B: midseason flowering clematis, Virginia creeper, Boston ivy and winter flowering jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) once flowers have faded.
• Cut back the stems of butterfly bush by 2/3rds and remove old, non-coloured stems of red and green twigged dogwoods so new colourful ones can take their place.
• Prune the side shoots of wisteria, grapes, fruit trees to 2 to 3 buds to promote for flowering (and fruit).
• The best time to prune most plants is right after they have finished blooming. Do NOT prune any spring flowering plants during the winter, as you will be removing their flowers: forsythia, camellia, rhododendron, azalea, ornamental cherries, magnolias, lilacs, alpine currants, quince, crab apples, kerria, beautybush, bridal wreath spirea, hawthorn, mountain laurel (Kalmia sp.), mock orange. 

Don't Prune these Plants in Winter

Don't prune roses that flower only once a year during the winter, such as this rambler.

It's best not to prune elm trees, like this American elm, (Ulmus americana).

It's best to wait until summer to prune Japanese maples.

Avoid pruning ornamental Japanese cherries in winter to reduce bacterial blight. Pruning is best done in summer.

• Trees that bleed: refrain from pruning trees that are disease prone and ones that produce copious amounts of sap when cut in the winter: Japanese ornamental cherry trees, Japanese maples and birches. They are best pruned during the summer. 
• Elms: Elms (Ulmus spp.) are prone to the insiduous elm killing disease, Dutch elm disease, which is spread by the notorious elm bark beetles. This beetle infects elms from April 1 to August 31 as it feeds and breeds within the tree. Do not prune elms during that time. 
• Roses that bloom only once a year. Pruning them now will remove their flowers for the year: ramblers, damask, moss roses. A good rule to follow is to prune roses right after they finish flowering.  

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What to Remove

• dead, dying and diseased plant parts
• broken branches
• suckers and watersprouts
  • suckers: non-branching shoots that grow vertically upright from the tree base and roots and below the bud union (on grafted plants such as hybrid tea roses)
  • watersprouts: straight non-branching shoots that grow vertically along branches
• spindly and weak stems
• stems that cross and ones that rub 
• branches in the way of pedestrians, vehicles etc.,
• overly long branches that distract from the shape of the plant
• old branches that no longer flower and/or produce fruit
• branches that grow towards the center of the plant
• stubs: remnants of branches that were removed improperly
• branches that are attached to the trunk at a narrow angle – 45 degrees or less

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Remove dead branches as soon as possible, any time of year.

Remove crossing and rubbing branches.

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Waterprouts grow bolt upright along branches and should be removed.

Cut branches off at their base at the branch ridge or at a side branch. Don't leave stubs.

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Remove suckers that grow below the graft of hybrid tea roses and other grafted plants.

Move away the soil and cut suckers off where they are attached to the roots.

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What to do

Select the right tool for the job to reduce your labour, to be more efficient and to reduce injury to the plant and yourself.

• Purchase and use the right tools for the job. It makes the job easier and safer. To learn more click here.
• Before pruning, decide what you want to achieve:
  • to shape, promote flowers, remove suckers, errant growth.
• Know the natural shape of the plant before pruning.
• Decide which stems should stay and which should go. Assess the plant first, before cutting.
• Stop occasionally and assess your work. It’s easy to get carried away.
• The best time to prune most plants is right after flowering so don’t prune spring flowering plants this time of year unless they really need it. Fruit trees are an exception as they are pruned in winter as well as summer. 
• Disinfect pruning tools after each plant, especially if plants are infested or infected. 

This Young's weeping birch has been topped and suckers have taken over, destroying it's graceful weeping form.

This is what a Young's weeping birch is supposed to look like.

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Where to cut

To shorten this apple stem, cut it back to the flower buds. They are fatter than leaf buds and are held in clusters.

• Cut back stems to an outward facing shoot or bud that faces away from the inside of the plant.
• Make cuts at a 45 degree angle slanting downward away from the bud, ¼ inch above an outward facing bud (node).
• Don’t cut the branch flush to the trunk. Look for the branch collar at the base of the branch. It looks like a raised or wrinkled ridge where the trunk and stem meet. Cut branches just outside the branch ridge (collar) so the cut will heal properly.
• When cutting back a stem to a bud (node), note the direction a bud is facing as that determines the direction of the new branch.  For example, if the bud faces towards the plant, that's where the stem will grow.
• Cut just above buds that point away from the centre of the plant. An open centre is the objective.
• To remove an entire limb of a tree, cut it back to the trunk, just above the branch collar.
• To shorten a limb, cut it off just above a side branch.
• Don’t cut or top the leader (the main stem) on trees with a single trunk. Topping trees kills them or at least disfigures them. The resulting new growth will be suckers, which are not firmly attached to the tree. This makes all topped trees unsafe and a hazard.
• Remove heavy and long branches with the 3 step method (jump cut). This prevents tearing of the bark and makes the pruning of big limbs safer. 
• To promote fruiting spurs on apples, pears, plums and nectarines, cut side shoots back to 2 to 4 nodes (buds).
• For pruning grapes, remove their side shoots to a couple of buds. 

When removing a branch, cut just above the branch ridge (collar) so the wound will heal.

This branch was cut flush to the stem, which removed the branch collar. This is why it didn't heal properly.

To make more fruiting spurs on apples and other spur bearing plants, cut back side shoots to a few buds.

To shorten branches, cut them back to just above a side branch.

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Please Don't...

This poor wee weeping Japanese maple has been cut back for no reason and at the wrong time of year. It will never be the same again, if it recovers.

• prune plants if they don’t need it
• prune spruce, pine and other conifers: just remove errant branches
• prune flowering ornamental cherry trees and Japanese maples during the winter, wait until late spring or summer
• remove or cut back all the branches from a tree (duh!)
• cut off a tree’s leader (the main trunk) prune spring flowering plants in winter as it removes their flowers
• remove more than ¼ of growth at one time
• remove well-formed healthy stems unless necessary
• prune when it is raining and when plants are wet
• leave a stub by cutting a branch in the middle
• remove all the lower branches of a tree, especially evergreens (conifer) as they become top-heavy and unsafe
• apply pruning paint or anything else to cut stems

This cedar was minding its own business and looking pretty good until someone thought otherwise.

There was no need to top this cedar. Snow will accumulate on the flattened top, followed by errant growth. It's been decapitated and the neighbouring trees are probably wondering if they are next.

If you think this looks dangerous, you would be right. It is so top heavy it might topple in heavy winds.

Tree topping: I have no idea why anyone would think this is the right thing to do.

Suckers often grow from stubs and must be removed, along with the stub.

This tree was topped and suckers took over. It doesn't just look silly, it's dangerous.

This Japanese maple tree has been converted into an unsightly shrub. It's days are numbered as the remaining trunk is decaying.

A Japanese maple tree that's been left to do its own thing.

Safety

• Always wear gloves to save your hands and to secure your grip.
• As you remove branches, place them away from your work area to avoid tripping.
• Place debris on tarpaulins away to drag to the next plant and for easy disposal.
• Use sharp clean pruning tools appropriate for the job.
• Avoid climbing trees and shrubs; use a ladder or hire a professional.
• Avoid pruning plants when they are wet as tools easily slip.
• Don’t remove large limbs without using the 3 step method.
• Don’t cut down large trees by yourself. Hire a professional.

Wear gloves as they protect the hands from blisters and thorns. They also give you a solid grip.

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Tree too Tall?

This towering horse chestnut will not fall down as it's roots spread far and wide and ever so deeply.

Don't be worried about a tree becoming too tall and falling over. Nature is too smart for that. Tree roots grow to at least the size of the tree's canopy. In fact, roots reach out far beyond the canopy especially if there is room for the roots to spread out. When you prune off the top, the roots also die back in proportion to what was removed. So if your worried that your tree is too tall, cutting the top off is going to make an otherwise safe tree - unsafe.

If it a tree is interfering with any overhead structures such as power lines, then cut back the offending branches to a side branch or removed the entire limb. Don't behead it!  Cutting back or removing all a tree's branches encourages even more growth. The tree needs foliage to make food, so it pumps out suckers to replace the lost stems and leaves. Suckers originate from the dormant buds from under the bark, not from the tree's core. They are easily broken off, especially in high winds and as they get longer. Suckers are not branches. 

​Pruning is to maintain health of trees and shrubs and should not be used to continuously reduce the size of a plant. If constant pruning is necessary, consider removing the plant and replacing with a plant of smaller stature keeping in mind its width and height at maturity. Select the right size of plant for the space.

The natural shape of branches is a beautiful thing.