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If the tree is too wide or too tall to suit you, or is threatening to become so, do not shear or head it back as you would a hedge. Single out the too long or too high members and lessen them one by one by drop-crotching—that is, cutting back to a fork where the abbreviation will look natural. (This overhead work will perfect your handling of the pole tools.) Finally, if the tree stands where traffic or mowing machinery must pass, eye it for ample clearance and prune accordingly. Better a few less branches than any bruised ones. Thus far we have generalized about pruning small deciduous trees. Evergreens call for different treatments, which will be discussed below. Pruning fruit trees, too, has special rules, which appear in a later chapter. Here it would be well to draw some distinctions about the pruning of deciduous species with various habits. |
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