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How to Prune Trees & Shrubs: Easy Techniques for Timely Trimming
Help your trees, shrubs, and vines look and yield their best by making the right cut every time. Whether you are hoping for more flowers or fruit, trying to create a dense screen, or struggling to manage out-of-control growth, there is a pruning technique to achieve your goals. Expert gardener Barbara Ellis explains how a plant responds to pruning, how and when to use basic cuts, and what tools to use. Her plant-by-plant guide will give you the confidence you need to make that first cut.
181 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 22, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 12, 2022
A perfect little book actually. Editors cut this one down to just the right size.
October 27, 2015
I was happy to read and review this book as I am always confused with what tools and how to prune different plants and trees. Am I cutting them off right, will they grow back OK and healthy the next year, am I killing them! what sort of pruning/cutting tool should I use.
The first chapters teach us what kind of tools we need for each job we want to undertake.
Pruning fruit trees, pruning vines.
And also, which a lot of us grow in our gardens....pruning roses correctly so we can get good healthy blooms the following year.
Along with this, we need to learn to prune at the correct time of the year. That's another thing I get confused about.
I have learnt how to do 'thinning cuts'.
There are plenty of pictures for diagrams making things easier to follow within the pages so, if you are a gardener its a handy book, if you are just starting out, its handy, and even if you have been growing things for years, its still good to recap on how to do it.
I found this book very useful indeed.
I had an early edition of this book from Storey Publishing via Net Galley, this book is out this coming March so look out for it and add it to your shelves.
The first chapters teach us what kind of tools we need for each job we want to undertake.
Pruning fruit trees, pruning vines.
And also, which a lot of us grow in our gardens....pruning roses correctly so we can get good healthy blooms the following year.
Along with this, we need to learn to prune at the correct time of the year. That's another thing I get confused about.
I have learnt how to do 'thinning cuts'.
There are plenty of pictures for diagrams making things easier to follow within the pages so, if you are a gardener its a handy book, if you are just starting out, its handy, and even if you have been growing things for years, its still good to recap on how to do it.
I found this book very useful indeed.
I had an early edition of this book from Storey Publishing via Net Galley, this book is out this coming March so look out for it and add it to your shelves.
July 22, 2016
This is a good book about how to prune plants around your yard. The author starts off with the types of tools you will need. Then moves into the cuts, and angles of cuts which helps for a stronger and healthier planter when new growth starts. Especially for plants like roses which will bigger if done correctly. She also goes over fruit trees which helps for new fruit in the following year, and she also suggests when you should hire someone for a job. There are pictures or diagrams to show the different types of cuts and where you should cut. Some things I knew already but some I did not. I found this to be very helpful. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
November 26, 2018
It's a super short book, but it has just enough info to guide you through pruning basics. I leave the difficult jobs to the experts, so this is a perfect (and non-overwhelming) amount of guidance for me.
September 26, 2023
Super accessible, the photos helped me a lot. Text to action can be difficult, this book is not difficult in the least. I really should take it out again because I am still definitely a novice and a few of the shrubs are lopsided. And the tree branches hanging over the stairs need help. Yep. Definitely need to take this out again.
August 29, 2019
This is the best how to book I've read on pruning trees and shrubs. Easy enough for the beginner to follow with pictorial helps.
May 29, 2016
This is a terrific how-to book for gardeners of any skill set. The book is divided into two sections. The first section explains the proper tools to use and their care, the different types of cuts and when to make them, how to make the cuts depending on purpose, tips and suggestions for plant selection, and what to avoid. In addition, the book also explains why pruning is necessary and beneficially to the plant and, in easy to read language, delves into basic plant biology to explain why trees and shrubs respond to pruning and injury the way they do and how to minimize the injury to the plant.
The second section is a quite thorough list of the proper pruning techniques and timetables for trees (including weeping, conifer and fruit trees), shrubs, vines (including fruit bearing vines), brambles and roses. There is also a handy guide to pruning for privacy, something I have not seen in other pruning books I own. Ms. Ellis also talks about when it is time to call in the professionals and makes some recommendations here also.
I was impressed at the number of deciduous and evergreen trees and bushes, vines, brambles and roses listed in section two. Even my lowly little Witch Hazel bush is listed much to my surprise and delight. This book is a must read for every weekend gardener and should be on every gardener's reading shelf as a constant resource and reminder of when and what to prune and when not to prune. In all honesty, I have been afraid to plant fruit trees because of my fear of pruning them incorrectly. The pages dedicated to fruit tree pruning are very thorough and even though I know there are resources on the internet Ms. Ellis pulls everything together so perfectly in this book that I may just get over my fear of fruit trees.
Throughout the book there are clear, easy to understand instructions and drawings (even some before and afters) so even a total klutz like me can't go wrong. There is a handy glossary in the back of the book explaining gardening terms, a metric conversion chart and a list of additional book resources for anyone interested in furthering their knowledge.
So often pruning books can be confusing to the novice gardener but I never felt overwhelmed reading this book. It was just as if a good friend, who also happens to be a master arborist, is standing at your elbow as you pick up your saw or pruners and prepare for that first cut. Nothing is said without an explanation given as to how, what, where or when. The book is titled as a book for beginners but I think it would be helpful to all levels of gardeners if only for section two alone. It would also make a terrific gift with perhaps a good pair of gardening gloves and a quality hand saw or hand pruners.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book. If I could, I would give it ten stars I am that enthusiastic about it.
The second section is a quite thorough list of the proper pruning techniques and timetables for trees (including weeping, conifer and fruit trees), shrubs, vines (including fruit bearing vines), brambles and roses. There is also a handy guide to pruning for privacy, something I have not seen in other pruning books I own. Ms. Ellis also talks about when it is time to call in the professionals and makes some recommendations here also.
I was impressed at the number of deciduous and evergreen trees and bushes, vines, brambles and roses listed in section two. Even my lowly little Witch Hazel bush is listed much to my surprise and delight. This book is a must read for every weekend gardener and should be on every gardener's reading shelf as a constant resource and reminder of when and what to prune and when not to prune. In all honesty, I have been afraid to plant fruit trees because of my fear of pruning them incorrectly. The pages dedicated to fruit tree pruning are very thorough and even though I know there are resources on the internet Ms. Ellis pulls everything together so perfectly in this book that I may just get over my fear of fruit trees.
Throughout the book there are clear, easy to understand instructions and drawings (even some before and afters) so even a total klutz like me can't go wrong. There is a handy glossary in the back of the book explaining gardening terms, a metric conversion chart and a list of additional book resources for anyone interested in furthering their knowledge.
So often pruning books can be confusing to the novice gardener but I never felt overwhelmed reading this book. It was just as if a good friend, who also happens to be a master arborist, is standing at your elbow as you pick up your saw or pruners and prepare for that first cut. Nothing is said without an explanation given as to how, what, where or when. The book is titled as a book for beginners but I think it would be helpful to all levels of gardeners if only for section two alone. It would also make a terrific gift with perhaps a good pair of gardening gloves and a quality hand saw or hand pruners.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book. If I could, I would give it ten stars I am that enthusiastic about it.
December 9, 2015
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
How to Prune Trees and Shrubs is another great entry in the Storey Basics line of books. This 'how-to' series features brief, direct, but easy to follow steps on a variety of topics, from cooking to gardening. Each book features hand drawn illustrations and typically come in under 150 pages, making the subject easy to understand and immediately useful.How To Prune Trees and Shrubs breaks down as follows: Introduction, Part One: Pruning Techniques and Tools (Pruning and plant growth, Pruning cuts, Prune with a purpose, Tools of the trade); and Part Two: Pruning Plant By Plant (Pruning trees, Pruning fruit trees, Pruning shrubs, Pruning roses, Pruning vines). Glossary, suggested reading, metric conversion chart, index.
The book explains the various pruning tools and goes over the basics that are true to most plants when it comes to pruning. Angles to cut, where to cut, reasons why you do and don't want to cut, healing and plant growth, and the differences between cutting trees, plants, and bushes are all discussed in the first part. The second half of the book is devoted to specifics: types of trees and how/when to prune, types of bushes, and then types of vines are discussed. Also important, the book has great information on when a professional should be called in instead.
The Storey Basics line is a great resource - a place to get started to understanding a subject and get right to work making or doing. Nearly all books can be read in an hour or so time and then be used as an immediate resources. Because they are brief, they don't fully cover the subject in minute detail; instead, the purpose of the books is to give all the knowledge to get one started. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews