Pruning Principles

Springing into Summer

Scott Elser June 16, 2020

Pinching is a thing of the past and we are in the middle of Post-Flush, Hardened Pruning. What PFHP (my new acronym) is taking advantage of is the fact that plants have made their initial, and sometimes only, flush of growth for the season. As all or part of this growth hardens off (becomes darker, more rigid) it starts to contribute resources back into the plant. It is still in a foliar growth mode, rather than the vascular mode that it shifts to in the fall. What we are doing with pruning at this time of year is to stimulate the tree to put out another flush of growth that can harden off before next fall. All pruning at this time of year will slow the tree down. Just keep that in mind with your goals. Most deciduous trees will respond well and give us another push of growth with shorter internodes, smaller leaves, and thinner twigging.