Pruning - Softcover

THE HANDS-ON GARDENER

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR SIMPLE TO ADVANCED PRUNING.

Espousing a new philosophy of pruning that's based on plant anatomy and growth, this fully illustrated handbook offers a simple, practical approach for succeeding at one of the most unnecessarily intimidating garden tasks. Including:

A Pruner's Lexicon

Stems and trunks, shoots and laterals. Tip buds, dormant buds, leaf vs. flower buds. Suckers, watersprouts, and sports.

When to Prune

Year-round schedule for the modern gardener. Deducing the age of a shoot, branch, or limb. Fall pruning of herbaceous perennials.

The Tools of the Craft and How to Use Them

Clippers, loppers, and the folding handsaw. Orchard ladders. Sharpening and maintenance.

The Methods of Pruning

Simple techniques: pinching back, shearing, disbudding, deadheading. The anatomy of a proper cut. The danger of flush cuts. Notching and ringing.

Robert Kourik is the author of Bob's Honest-to-Goodness Newsletter, devoted to environmentally responsible practices. He has also written on gardening for a range of magazines, and has authored or co-authored seven books on gardening.

From the fundamentals of plant structure and the dynamics of growth through a specimen-by-specimen illustrated guide to 50 plants, trees, and shrubs, Pruning is a complete tutorial.

It shows how to make a cut that protects the plant from invasive diseases and promotes natural healing; how to cut and shape during a plant's infancy to minimize pruning in its maturity; when to prune, and why to prune during seasons once considered off-limits.