As the weather has started to cool where I live, leaves are now falling from some of the deciduous trees in my garden. This is the perfect time for fall pruning.
Stewartia monadelpha
I first remove the dead leaves so I can get a better view of the branches.
After removing the leaves
With a refined tree like this, I make two kinds of cuts. I reduce long shoots to maintain the tree’s silhouette, and I remove shoots that grow in awkward directions.
When I’m working on the latter, I take a few steps back from the tree to better focus on crossing branches that interrupt the flow upward and outward from the trunk.
After light cutback – 33″
I’m keeping the tree relatively full as I plan to either layer or graft roots on the lower part of the trunk in the next one-to-two years. For these operations to work well, the tree must be growing vigorously, and the extra branches and large wooden box both help with this.
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