Content
A beautiful, well-groomed garden is the real pride of a fruit grower. Caring for the future harvest begins with autumn pruning, which is relevant for fruit trees, ornamental and berry bushes. How necessary is this event for individual garden dwellers in the fall, how and when is it best to perform? This question is often of interest to beginners, so we will try to give a detailed answer.
So that the garden does not turn into impassable untidy thickets, the summer resident must promptly prune trees and shrubs. There are several types of this event, each of which has specific goals.
The following types of autumn pruning are distinguished:
Formative pruning is applicable to large tree-like garden dwellers. By shortening and thinning individual branches, the ventilation of the crown is improved, which significantly reduces the risk of diseases, increases the quality of the harvest of fruit trees and shrubs.
Adjusting the number of branches allows the tree to distribute food evenly, not to “feed” excess growth. During formative pruning, branches are removed that grow inside the crown, causing thickening, drooping below the crown level and intertwining with each other. Regulating or thinning pruning is a type of crown shaping. It applies not only to trees, but also to shrubs. For shrubs, the adjustment also provides for height leveling.
Advice
For each crop, gardeners have developed a specific shaping scheme. We recommend that you stick to it from the moment of planting until the time of fruiting. After this point, the trees only need reorganization, thinning and rejuvenation.
Sanitary pruning of trees and shrubs in the fall is the key to plant health. The procedure involves the removal of damaged, dried, broken twigs, shoots that do not bring crops. It is convenient to sanitize plants after leaf fall, when damage to the bark, places damaged by pests will become especially noticeable.
Rejuvenating pruning is indicated when fruiting is extinct, when the tree has crossed half of its life path. For each culture, a special rejuvenation scheme has also been developed that allows you to restore potential. In shrubs, rejuvenation involves the removal of individual branches or complete pruning on a stump. This type of plant will quickly restore habit due to dormant buds.
It is possible to carry out the autumn pruning of trees and shrubs only after their transition to a state of dormancy, which occurs after leaf fall. This rule does not apply to sanitary pruning, it is carried out throughout the entire growing season. All activities should be completed 2-4 weeks before the onset of frost.
Advice
Remember that autumn pruning should be as gentle as possible. It is better to leave all large manipulations for the spring.
Also, the timing of pruning depends on the region of growth of the culture. If you are engaged in the formation of fruit trees in the zone of risky farming in the fall, the wounds from the cuts will not have time to heal and will cause freezing, weakening of the immune system.In regions with harsh climates, formative pruning is carried over into the spring. In autumn, you can do partial thinning and redevelopment. In the south of the country, from harvesting to the onset of frost, gardeners have plenty of time to prune crops.
It is customary to carry out the bulk of work on the formation of the crown of fruit trees in the spring, so the autumn period is fertile for sanitary pruning. In the southern regions, crown formation in the fall can be carried out near apple trees, pears, mountain ash, quince and chokeberry.
Autumn haircut aims to remove dead and diseased branches. During harvest, you can see which shoots have yielded fewer fruits. They must be removed to stimulate the laying of new sleeves. You can also cut branches that thicken the crown. After falling leaves, they are clearly visible.
Advice
Since fresh wounds can cause freezing, experienced gardeners recommend pruning live branches on a thorn. The cut must be made 15 cm higher than the required place in order to completely cut out the unnecessary shoot in the spring.
The yield of the berry plant depends on maintaining the balance of the branches. Formation of the crown in the fall for shrubs will be appropriate, because in the spring they wake up earlier than other crops.
Experienced gardeners recommend adhering to the following rules for pruning berry bushes.
Do not forget about autumn sanitation, it is obligatory for all inhabitants of the berry. Next, consider the recommendations for the autumn shearing of individual berry bushes.
A favorite of gardeners has a two-year life cycle of the stems. During the first year of the growing season, the stalk will grow and get stronger, and the next year it will give the harvest, after which it will die. Such branches are different from young growth. They are given by lignification - dark flaky bark. A dead shoot can become a haven for pests, therefore it must be removed. On each bush, it is customary to leave 6-8 powerful developed stems that can easily endure the winter and bring a harvest. Weak root growth is cut at the root.
Advice
It is better to trim raspberry bushes in height with the arrival of spring. This will protect the stems from freezing.
The repairing raspberry differs from the usual one in the annual growth cycle. Therefore, after fruiting, this variety is subject to a cardinal shearing: autumn pruning involves removing the stems at the root.
It is customary to form fragrant currant bushes in the fall, because they wake up and bloom very early. A separate shoot of the culture bears fruit for 3-5 years, after which the productivity drops sharply. Root shoots are replacing - try to maintain the balance of the change of shoots.
In the fall, currants are subject to sanitation, shaping and rejuvenation. Sick and broken shoots are cut out, lodging, thickening the crown, and having lost productivity. With an annual haircut, you will not have to wield a lot with pruners, but if the shrub is neglected, more than a third of the crown cannot be cut off. After careful inspection, cut out what needs to be removed immediately and finish shaping in a year.
Garden honeysuckle forms most of the harvest on strong shoots of the current year - in no case should they be shortened. During the autumn haircuts the bush is sanitized and the crown is thinned out.Cut branches that are more than seven years old. At the same time, it is important to leave a stump 5-6 cm long to produce a new growth.
With a sharp decrease in the productivity of honeysuckle, rejuvenation is shown. During a total haircut, only hemp with a height of 30 cm is left. In a few years, a young productive crown will form from the sleeping buds.
The fruiting period of an individual gooseberry branch reaches 10 years, but you will not wait for large berries from such a decrepit growth. It is best to root out all vegetation over five years old. You can identify it by the dark bark. A healthy gooseberry bush contains 20-25 branches of different ages and at least five annual growths.
To achieve a good harvest of blackberries, take care of its crown in the fall... Take 10 developed young stems, and cut the rest at the root. Do not leave undergrowth with unripe wood and recovered crops in the current season. Cut the selected stems by one third to stimulate the setting of flower buds.
Kalina is undemanding to autumn pruning, it will bring a minimum of trouble. The gardener only needs to thin out the crown to improve illumination and ventilation, as well as to reorganize.
Ornamental shrubs are indispensable for decorating the garden area. It is customary to sanitize them throughout the season, and partially thin out the crown in the fall. Only not all representatives of this species will like the shortening of the shoots.
Whether it is worth subjecting a shrub to formative pruning in the fall depends on the period of its flowering. Let's divide ornamental shrubs into three groups.
Advice
The snowberry belongs to the third group, but its haircut is usually transferred to the spring. This spectacular representative of the flora will decorate your site with snow-white bunches all winter.
The decorative hedges are also formed and sanitized in the fall. The exception is living fences made from conifers.
The rose garden requires careful maintenance, which necessarily includes autumn pruning. Some useful tips for performing the procedure:
The garden inhabitants of the liana-like type include grapes, clematis, actinidia and lemongrass. These plants wake up very early with the arrival of spring, the process of sap flow is rapid. So that they do not weaken from the loss of life-giving moisture, pruning is carried out exclusively in the autumn period. Weak and unripe stems that reduce winter hardiness are subject to removal. Formative pruning is carried out according to a special scheme.For example, in grapes, it is customary to form replacement knots from matured young growths. The length of the knot is 2–6 buds.
Early flowering clematis do not shear in the fall, they winter with ripe flower buds. Crop varieties blooming from mid-summer to late season cut off dramatically... It is necessary to leave the growth of 2-3 buds.
A few simple rules will help you prune your garden plants efficiently.
In the fall, gardeners have more free time, because the hassle of planting seedlings and growing various crops is left behind. This time of the year is best for taking care of your beloved garden. Follow the recommendations, put the green charges in order. With the coming of spring, they will endow you with lush greenery, bright buds, and in the fall they will bring a decent harvest.
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