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WINTER CUTTING: FEATURES AND RULES

The growth and development of fruit trees, as well as the ability to bear fruit, largely depend on regular pruning. Gardeners often spend it in spring or autumn. But you can do it in winter too. True, so that the procedure at this time does not harm the plants, it is important to follow certain rules.

Benefits of winter pruning

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Now summer residents have a lot of free time. Therefore, you can take your time, stretching the pruning for several days. In addition, plants are not threatened with severe stress, since they are at rest.

TIP: If you have to cut diseased branches, treat the tool with a solution of bleach (10 g per 1 liter of water) or alcohol (2 tbsp per 1 tbsp of water) between pruning steps.

With winter pruning, the likelihood of bark scuffing is also reduced.

And cons

It is not easy to work in the cold: hands freeze quickly in the cold, you have to periodically take breaks to warm up. And if there are snowdrifts in the garden, they make it difficult to approach the trees.

And one more thing: in winter, after pruning, it is very difficult to cover up the cuts. Garden pitch even at a low positive temperature hardens and loses its properties, and oil paint thickens and does not fit well. But on the other hand, the risk of infection of fruit trees through fresh cuts and saw cuts is minimized, since pathogens are inactive.

Optimal time

You can plan work with pruners in the garden from the end of January to March. The main thing is to have time to manage before the start of sap flow.

An important condition: for work you need to pick up a clear, dry day with an air temperature above - 5 degrees. At lower temperatures, wood becomes brittle, wounds on trees and shrubs crack and heal poorly.

Features of winter pruning

During the cold period, carry out:

forming pruning (to form the crown of a tree);
regulating (cutting off part of the crown, artificially normalize the yield and load on the tree);
rejuvenating (to replace skeletal branches with younger shoots);
sanitary (to get rid of broken, dead, deformed branches). Start pruning with more mature fruit-bearing plants, as their fruit buds awaken earlier than leaf ones. Young trees in the period of crown formation and weakened trees are best cut later, at the end of winter or early spring, 3-4 weeks before the awakening of the kidneys.

If you need to cut several large branches, do not cut all at once, but do it for two to three years to minimize stress on the plant.

FACT: USUALLY. IN THE WINTER PERIOD, APPLE TREES ARE CUT. PEARS. PLUM AND CHERRY. THE PROCEDURE IS WELL TOLERATED WITH VILLAIN, RED ROWAN. chokeberry (chornoplodny ashberry), irga, barberry, currant, gooseberry. BUT THE CUTTING OF HEAT-LOVING CROPS, FOR EXAMPLE, CHERRY AND APRICOT, IT IS BETTER TO POSTPONE UNTIL SPRING (BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE VEGETATION).

Winter pruning: workflow

First, cut out dried and diseased branches, regardless of which part of the crown they are in.

Remove spinning tops and undergrowth from the base of the tree.

Cut off completely the shoots (leaving no stumps) that grow inside the crown.

To improve air circulation in the crown, remove densely growing shoots, but no more than a quarter of their total number, since severe pruning can provoke the growth of stepchildren.

Shorten last year's branches by a third, making a cut above the kidney. This will keep the tree in good shape and encourage the development of new fruit branches.

Shorten the upper part of the central trunk (guide) so that it is 15-20 cm longer than the side branches.

When pruning shrubs, remove dry and old branches. This will improve the flow of light and air in the summer. Do not cut off all the shoots at the root, reduce their number gradually. Remove a quarter of the old shoots to begin with, and renew the rest over the next years.

I advise you to treat all sections with a special garden paste that does not thicken at low temperatures (for example, BlagoSad or Ran No).

Reference by topic: How to properly cut the trees in the country, in the garden