Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-08
PRUNING PLANTS.

One of the most important tasks that
confronts the home gardener at this
season is the pruning Of his fruit trees,
vines and ornamentals. In many cases
the work is overdone: In some cases,
underdone. The amount Of the pruning
cannot be covered by an arithmetacal
rule, but depends on the condition OF
the plant. Take q grape vine, for ex-
ample: investigators have carefully re-
corded the yields Of pruned vines ana
found that highly vigorous vines can
safely carry go or more BUDS AFTER
pruning, while those with ordinary
vigor do best when 40 buds are left. In
fruit trees, such as the apple and pear,
heavy pruning is undesirable except IN
the case of old trees with many old
spurs and small branches. Heavy prun-
ing of young trees delays the time that
the trees come into fruiting and cuts
down the size of the crop. This has
led to the general adoption Of . system
of very moderate pruning after the
original shaping of the tree until It has
become quite mature. This rule holos
true for apples, pears, plums, cherries,
peaches and, In fact, for most all fruits.
The grape seems to be an exception or
perhaps it is only that the grape
reaches fruiting stage 50 much earlier
than tree fruits.
Grapes should be pruned as soon as
possible now, since the pruning wounds
will soon exude vast quantities OF sap.
Pruned now the wounds viii heal sum-
GENTLY to prevent this loss. Ordinarily
a large proportion OF the new growth
is removed annually from the grape
vine. As stated, commercial vineyard
lists reduce the total number Of buds on
young wood to 40 or slightly more. 1t
Is only the buds on last years growth
that produce new canes ana nut.
Pruning of grape vines trained 70 wire
trellises is simple. b1t that Of vines on
an arbor is rather diflcult. On the
arbor the spur system is usually en-
ployed where short canes with two or
three buds are left. On the wire txellis,
four or more canes OF 10 or - buds
each are left after pruning. Hecoros
taken by experiment stations EhoW that
the fifth to eighth buds on the canes
usually bear the largest clusters OF
grapes. Hence 1t Is to be seen that the
spur system used on arbors really re-
moves the most promising buds. Inc
drought of last season cut down the
quantity of new wood on many nome
Garden grapes, so much 50 that In some
cases It viii be better not TO prune at
all, but possibly to thin out the fruit
clusters. This plan viii give the vines
q chance to restore their strength.
Without vigorous growth there can De
no large crops of good grapes.
Pruning fruit trees Just coming into
bearing, or in bearing for only few
years, might better consist in the re-
moval Of some of the smaller branches
In the denser part of the head, and, OF
course, all dead or broken branches.
This system Of moderate pruning dis
tributed over the outer portion Of the
tree does not upset the balance Of nutrt-
ton within the tree itself and keeps II
thrifty and fruitful. The older practice
of cutting out and cutting back large
limbs often resulted in reduced
crops. water suckers (sappy vegetative
branches) and general disturbance in
fruiting habits. Peaches and Japanese
plums, such as Burbank, differ little
from apples in that they soon become
full of short spurs and weak growth
and need rather severe annual pruning
to induce the formation Of vigorous
young wood capable Of bearing good
size fruit.
Coming to ornamentals, advice at this
time should be largely negative. The
species soon to bloom, such as Van
Houtte spirea, lilacs, mock oranges and
the deutzias, should not be pruned at
all at this season, but directly after
Towering has ceased. Grape myrtle,
butterfly bush and hydrangea grandi-
fora need heavy pruning at this time
because these three and some others
flower directly on new 1881 growth. In
fact, none of the three will produce
large trusSes of bloom without rather
severe Spring pruning.
Summing up one can easily see that
70 Is not advisable to simply take a pru-
ming shear or saw in hand and start
IN on the various home garden plants.
Such haphazard work Is certain to
yield disappointing results. On the
other hand, thoughtful pruning Is de-
sirable and necessary to keep plants
in shape and in the case Of fruit trees
to keep them bearing regular crops
of good sized, attractive fruit. De-
spite the fact that horticulturists have
been pruning for centuries there Is
still much 10 be known upon the under
lying physiology, but much progress
has been made in the last few years
toward better understanding.