Leave Those Pruners Alone

As fall sets in, and our plants start to look tired, we gardeners go into clean-up mode.  First, we clean out our vegetable gardens, putting plants with diseases and insects into the trash or burn pile and clean plants into the compost bin.  Then, we may start to rake up a bit.  The combination of cooler weather and sunshine just invites us to spend the rest of the day outside and so we start to look around for other tasks.  Often we go get the pruners and do a little trimming.  But is fall the best time to do that?  I argue that it is not.  In the fall your plants are about to go into dormancy, and pruning them can stimulate a flush of new growth at the wrong time.  This depletes the plants’ reserves of energy for the spring flush, and leaves open wounds at a time when frost is quickly approaching. 

Additionally, many people give their crape myrtles a severe pruning in the fall after this summer’s blooms have faded.  They usually do this for one of two reasons, either to ensure lots of blooms for next summer or to tame a tree that has outgrown its space.  While it is true that crape myrtles bloom on new growth, you do not have to prune in order to get blooms the next year.  The plant will put on new growth all by itself in the spring, and flowers will initiate from that growth.  If you have a crape that has grown to the point where its limbs whack you in the face when you mow around it or walk next to it, prune judiciously.  Try just taking off the offending limbs on the underside of the canopy and allowing the tree to grow up and over that sidewalk.  Still, this type of pruning should wait. Crape myrtles have a beautiful growth habit or shape when left to look natural.  Even the dried seed pods left on them in the winter add some ornamentation to a bleak landscape. 

 

Seed pods on crape myrtle

So, when should we prune?  I recommend late winter and early spring.  In late winter many of the plants will be dormant and you will be better able to see the branching structure.  In spring, the plants will be actively growing and can recover quickly from pruning.  For early spring bloomers, such as azaleas, it is best to prune them immediately after they are finished with their flowers.    To get more information on pruning or any other horticulture question you may have, give me a call at the Extension office, 901-465-5233.  UT Extension offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability or veteran status and is an Equal Opportunity employer.