Pines and most other evergreens are pruned using the candling method, he adds. This growth is succulent and has many growing points where the needles are being formed and beginning to grow. After growth begins, about half of the candle can be pruned off or pinched back. This will reduce the height and create a fuller shrub. This method is most commonly used when controlling the growth of Mugo pines and other low growing pines, spruce and firs, Goodspeed says.
Some conifers have short candles, such as a dwarf Alberta spruce and a bird nest spruce.
With all the new growth, it would be nearly impossible to pinch out every candle. When a juniper begins to grow out into the sidewalk or driveway, there is a great temptation to just cut a straight edge on the plant, giving it the appearance of being a fence or wall and not a natural plant, he says. However, pruning and trimming evergreens to keep them within the bounds of a landscape are accomplished correctly by removing selected branches and twigs back to a branch or trunk. By cutting off a few of the overgrown branches every year, the plant will remain smaller and still maintain its natural shape. The only pruning that should be done on larger evergreen trees is to remove the lower branches, he adds.