1. Pruning Landscape Trees, Shrubs, and Palms
Linda Seals
agente de extensión agricola
el condado de Brevard, Florida

2. What will we learn? Importance of proper pruning Basic plant biology
Types of pruning cuts
Different methods of pruning trees and shrubs
How palms should (or should not) be pruned
How and why you should sanitize pruning tools

3. Pruning is the act of removing any part of a plant
What is pruning?
Pruning is the act of removing any part of a plant

4. Mowing is pruning!

5. The Golden Rule of Pruning
Never remove more than 1/3 of a plant at one time!
Even when mowing turfgrass!

6. Exception: rejuvenation pruning

7. What’s the big deal?
International Society of Arborists estimates that 90% of the problems encountered are not caused by living agents (pests or pathogens) but result from:
Environmental stresses
Mechanical injuries
Wrong plant, wrong place

8. What makes it all work?
Apical Dominance!

9. Apical Dominance is…
Inhibition of the growth of lateral buds by the terminal bud of a plant shoot

10. The parts of apical dominance: hormones and terminal buds
Auxins are plant hormones
They do lots of things such as help seeds develop, form leaves, help fruits develop, encourage roots to grow, help leaves fall off in autumn, tell roots and stems which direction grow, help cells to grow, and…
drive Apical Dominance!

11. Where are auxins found?
Auxins are concentrated and manufactured in the last terminal bud on stem or limb

12. Apical Dominance Auxin moves downward Apex or terminal bud
Auxin inhibits lateral bud break
Apical Dominance
Auxin inhibits lateral shoot growth
Auxin increases crotch angle size

13. Apical Dominance Auxins are manufactured in the terminal bud
Remove the terminal bud, remove the hormone
If the hormone INHIBITS bud break, what happens if you remove it?

14. Remove the last terminal buds
Apical Dominance

15. Apical Dominance

16. The order of bud break may depend on the leaf arrangement
Alternate
Opposite
Whorled
The order of bud break may depend on the leaf arrangement

17. Alternate Arrangement
Opposite Arrangement

18. The 3 Steps to Pruning Remove dead, diseased plant material
Remove malformed branches, limbs:
Narrow crotch angles
Crossovers
Rubbing limbs or branches
Objective pruning (pruning techniques)

19. Step 1: Remove dead and diseased Limbs
Dead and diseased limbs should be removed immediately whenever possible. This task can be conducted year round regardless of the growing season.

20. Step 2: remove narrow crotch angles