The tree's year, in order
Tree care in a garden follows the tree's year rather than the calendar on the wall. Most of it is small jobs done at the right moment: a formative cut while a young tree is still trainable, deadwood out before it lands on a path, the soil looked after so the roots can work.
The rest is knowing when to leave a tree alone. A newly planted tree, a tree in full leaf and a tree short of water all do better without a saw near them. What follows is the year in order, season by season.
When to prune trees
Most deciduous trees are pruned while dormant, from leaf fall in November to bud break in late March. The tree is holding its sap down, the shape is visible without leaves, and the wounds close as growth starts in spring. December and January suit the heaviest structural work. February is better for anything you want to grow back calmly.
Species matter more than dates. Birch, acer and walnut bleed badly if they are cut in late winter, so they wait for midsummer. Flowering cherries and magnolias are cut straight after flowering. Conifers are trimmed in late spring and summer, and never back into bare old wood, because most of them will not regrow from it. The Woodland Trust lists how each species grows.
Best time to prune trees
The best time is the one that suits the tree in front of you. Winter suits oak, beech, lime and most garden ornamentals, along with apples and pears. Summer suits restricted fruit forms, the trees that bleed, and anything flowering on last year's wood.
The weather decides the day. Work on a dry day above freezing, because wet cuts and frost damaged edges are how disease gets into wood. Put the saw away if a hard frost or a wet week is coming. Fruit trees have their own rules, which the when to prune fruit trees guide sets out in full.
Summer tree pruning
Summer pruning is the tool for slowing growth and for shaping trained trees. A tree that has grown too large settles down after cuts in July and August, because the leaves removed are the ones making the food. Fruit trained on a wall is pruned then to keep the framework tidy and let light onto the ripening crop.
Summer is also the best time to inspect a tree. Dead branches stand out against green leaves, and a walk round in July is worth more than a guess in January. Cut this season's shoots on trained trees, crowded growth and dead wood. Leave the main limbs and anything structural until dormancy.
Autumn tree care
Autumn is about the soil. Clear leaves off the lawn, where they smother grass, and put them in a wire bin to make leaf mould. Check gullies, drains and soakaways before the rain arrives, because no amount of pruning will fix a garden that floods.
Once the ground is wet, spread a mulch of composted bark or garden compost over the root zone, keeping it clear of the trunk. Leaf fall also starts the bare root planting season, which runs until early spring, and it is the best window of the year to get a new tree in. Our tree planting service works through it.
Spring: mulch, stakes and nesting birds
Spring is the busiest time in the garden and the worst time to prune. A tree makes its year's growth from April, and cutting into that takes food and can cause bleeding. Keep to dead or storm damaged wood. Birds nest from March to August, so look before any cut and leave the hedge trimmer alone until the young have flown.
What to do instead: mulch, water a newly planted tree through its first two summers, check stakes and ties so they are not cutting into the trunk, and remove any tie that was only needed for the first year. Our garden maintenance round covers this work through the season.
Winter is the time to inspect
Winter is for inspection. Look for deadwood, cracks in a trunk or a fork, fungal brackets, a hollow at the base, a new lean and soil lifting at the root plate. After high wind, check the same things from the ground and stay clear of anything left hanging.
Some signs are worth acting on quickly: a bracket fungus at the base, a crack that opens and closes in the wind, bark falling away from the trunk. A tree that is dying back needs identifying long before it needs cutting, and our diseased trees page covers what is treatable and what is not. Garden pruning, planting and aftercare are the practice's work, while anything that has to be climbed, rigged or dismantled is carried out by Ross Webster Tree Services.
Garden tree maintenance
A garden tree asks for less than most people think, and most of it is done from the ground. Check stakes and ties twice a year, in spring and again in autumn, and loosen anything cutting into the trunk. Keep the ground around a young tree clear of grass and weeds for its first three summers, and water it through dry spells until it has settled in.
Mulch in spring, keeping the material clear of the bark, and take off any shoot growing from the base or straight up through the middle of a young tree. That is the routine for a healthy tree. Formative pruning belongs in winter, while the tree is still trainable and every cut is small.
Cutting shrubs by flowering habit
The same year applies to the shrubs under the trees. Spring flowering shrubs, including forsythia, ribes and weigela, carry their flowers on last year's wood, so they are cut straight after flowering and never in winter. Summer flowering shrubs, such as buddleja and hydrangea, are pruned in late winter or early spring, before growth starts.
Evergreens are the exception. Cut them in late spring or early summer, once the risk of a hard frost has gone, and never back into bare old wood, because most will not regrow from it.
Clipping timing for yew and box
Formal shapes have their own timing. Evergreen topiary, box, yew and privet, is clipped in late spring and again in late summer, while the growth is soft and the shape is easy to follow. Clip too early in a cold spring and the cut edges scorch. Clip too late in autumn and soft regrowth sits through the winter.
Box is usually clipped twice, in June and again in September, and yew takes one cut in late summer. Water and feed after clipping, because a tight shape is worked hard, and keep the base of a shape wider than its top so light reaches the lower branches.
Questions about this guide
- What is the best month to prune a tree?
- For most deciduous garden trees, January and February. The tree is dormant, the branch structure is easy to read, and the cuts heal as growth begins. Bleeding species such as birch, acer and walnut are the exception and are cut in midsummer.
- Is it too late to prune a tree in spring?
- It is too late for shaping cuts, but not for dead or storm damaged wood. A tree is spending everything it has on new growth in spring, and any cut takes food with it. Wait until the leaves have hardened off in late summer, or until dormancy returns.
- When should I cut a birch, an acer or a walnut?
- In midsummer, usually July or early August. Cut them in late winter and the sap runs from the wounds for weeks, which weakens the tree and looks unsightly over a path or a car. Walnut is a little later again, from late summer into early autumn.
- Should I cut the top out of a tree that has grown too tall?
- No. Topping a tree leaves a large wound that rarely closes, and the regrowth that follows is dense, weakly attached and quick to break out in wind. Thinning the crown or reducing it properly is a different job, and it is tree surgery carried out by Ross Webster Tree Services.
- What should I check on a tree after a storm?
- Look at the whole tree from a distance first: a new lean, a lifted root plate, a limb hanging or hanging lower than it did. Then check the base and the main forks for cracks and torn bark. Stay clear of anything overhead and call a tree surgeon rather than investigating close up.
- When can I cut a hedge without disturbing nesting birds?
- Birds, their nests and their eggs are protected while a nest is in use, which usually means March to August. Cut hedges in late winter before nesting starts, or once the young have flown. There is more on cutting timing in the wildlife garden guide.
Need this done in your garden?
The practice prunes fruit trees and garden trees across North Yorkshire and County Durham. Tree surgery, including removal and stump grinding, goes to Ross Webster Tree Services. Their contact details are on their own site.