"YES, you can!" Pruning Tips for Suckers & Rubbing Branches

 

"Yes, you can!"

Prune your trees and shrubs

Part I - Removing suckers & rubbing branches

In this tutorial, we are restoring two multi-stem shrubs, a magnolia and a Japanese tree lilac, that have gone unpruned for several years.  These general pruning techniques are applicable for any of your trees or larger, tree-like shrubs.  We like to do pruning in early spring before tree leaves obscure our view of branch structure, but this type of pruning may be done any time of year.

 1.   Start at the bottom.  Look for suckers, which are small shoots growing from the base alongside the trunk.  Suckers need to be removed before they get big enough to start diverting energy from the growth of the main trunk.  Cut them off with a sharp pruners or saw. 

 

 

2.   Now the we can clearly see the base of the magnolia, sucker-free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.   Now we can examine the structure of the larger stems as they grow from the ground and start to branch.  We want these stems to be healthy and uniformly spaced so they can form a nice crown to the tree.  Look especially for large stems that are crossing or rubbing, like the two on the left.  This creates wounds which are good entry points for insects and disease. 

 

 

4.    Decide which stems to retain at the bottom by looking at how they progress further up the tree.  Often, a branch crossing or rubbing near the bottom is also causing similar problems further up.  Imagine the gap you will leave in the canopy when you cut out your ‘culprit’ branch, but don’t be afraid if there is a space for now - the ‘culprit’ will only cause worse problems in the future!  Here, we cut off the smaller of the rubbing stems.

 

5.    Now that we addressed crossing branches at the bottom of the tree, we continue to look for similar problems further into the crown.  Here is an area with multiple small crossing branches.  We removed two of these, opening the area up so the remaining branches can grow healthily!  Be sure to cut these branches off flush with the trunk so the wound can heal over well - no stubs left over on the main trunk.

 

6.    We have now established a nice structure to the bottom of the tree - no crossing or rubbing branches, and the remaining stems are more uniformly spaced and have room to grow.

 

Check out Part II of this pruning tutorial next:  Pruning the canopy of the tree