Pruning and Repairing Garden Plants

Pruning is one of the most exciting and creative experiences in the realm of gardening. You have powerful control over the manner in which your plants will develop, or how they will recover from wind or winter damage. And you work hand in hand with nature, making use of knowledge of how plants grow. Basic rules are so simple that you will soon feel as capable as an expert. By your choice of places to make cuts, you can stimulate emergence of new growth at positions where you desire it, and can make plants grow in the directions you wish. You can keep a shrub under control, make it become densely bushy or angularly picturesque, show its shape in decorative silhouette, frame your window, or adapt to vine-like pattern on a wall or trellis. You can control the number and size of flowers. You can repair damaged parts. And those are just a few of the challenging possibilities. Once you have gained confidence, you will want to prune everything! You will know the results you are after, and not want to trust anyone else to do the job. When you reach this exalted position, stop and remind yourself that though pruning is fun for you, it is a surgical operation for the plant. It is a procedure to be approached thoughtfully. There should be a reason for every cut.