Pruning Most trees and shrubs will require some pruning as they grow to keep them healthy and to maintain a pleasing appearance. We've organized our tips and techniques into the following categories, and you can link directly to any one of them or scroll down to read them one by one. Shrubs that flower in the spring should only be pruned after the flowers fade, while shrubs that flower later in the summer should only be pruned in early spring.
Pros recommend pruning shears with curved blades.
They do less damage to branch ends. Use lopping shears for branches a quarter-inch to an inch thick. Over an inch thick, use a bow saw . Then, head back the branches as needed to shape, always cutting just above a bud on the outside of the branch to encourage outward growth. Formal pruning also uses thinning techniques to keep the plant healthy, but gets to be more work heading back branches as often as needed to maintain a shape it wouldn't naturally assume.