Basic Pruning Techniques

Excerpted from How to Grow Practically Everything
Filed under: Trees, Pruning, How To

Spur Pruning

This technique encourages climbers, wall shrubs, and trained fruit trees to flower and fruit more freely. Shortening the shoots that grow from the main stems promotes the remaining buds to produce far more productive stems than would normally appear.

Find a Healthy Shoot

Identify strong growing shoots and trim back to two or three buds from the main stems to form short branches or "spurs." Make a slanting cut to channel rainwater away from the chosen bud. This helps prevent disease and die back.

Create Short Spurs

The "spurs" of this climbing rose will each produce two or three flowering stems in the forthcoming season. You can also spur prune wall-trained Chaenomeles, Pyracantha, and Ceanothus to keep plants neat and blooming well.