JoAnne Skelly: Fall pruning fun is here

Oh boy do I have pruning to do! When the trees have lost their leaves, it gets much easier to see what needs to be done. While not all of the trees are leafless yet, enough of them are for me to begin.

Once the weather starts getting cold, it is a good time to prune. Normally, pruning encourages new growth, which you don’t want just before freezes, so lower temperature pruning avoids producing easily damaged new growth.

There are water sprouts as well as suckers on the apple trees and crabapples. Water sprouts are the upright growing shoots in the canopy of the tree, whereas suckers grow from the base of the tree.

Pruning all of these is a weeks-long process because there are so many. A couple of the crabapples need damage repair after the bears climbed up and ripped off some branches. The large willow has a lot of unsightly random growth as well.

Some trees and large shrubs just need shaping. Often, I prune so my husband can mow under the trees without getting snagged from a low-lying branch. The spruce trees along the driveway have to be trimmed almost yearly to allow the RV to get through without damaging the branches (or, more importantly, to my husband, the RV!)

I’m removing a six-foot tall skunkbush sumac from one of my flower beds. I have pruned it for years into an umbrella-like shape, modeling it after a Japanese style. Now, I’m tired of all that constant trimming and I want more light in the bed for my crocosmia and other flowers to bloom.

I’m training a young Amur maple that started from a seed to become a natural shade structure for the patio. Its deciduous nature will allow sun into the house in the winter but shade the kitchen in the summer.

Pruning this is a question of directing where I want the branches to be at maturity. I don’t want them on top of the house, so lateral training is required.

Our (because my husband helps a lot) pruning tools include two gas chain saws, one battery-operated chain saw and another one on a pole. I even have a five-inch blade battery-operated handheld chain saw.

In addition to all the power tools, we have a pole saw, regular loppers, and loppers with extension handles. Finally, I have a variety of hand saws and pruning shears. My husband, the mechanic, always says “The right tools make the job easier.”

This is my last article for 2024. Look for more horticulture information starting in February 2025. Enjoy your winter!

JoAnne Skelly is Associate Professor & Extension Educator Emerita at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Email skellyj@unr.edu.