Keeping your garden looking great is no easy feat... but with all that goes into garden maintenance, pruning may be the only chore that can actually be described as "intimidating." Let's face it - while planting, watering and fertilizing are certainly hard work, they don't usually carry the risk of irreversible plant damage if done incorrectly! To get the dos and don'ts on proper pruning, Kim Haworth talks with Disney arborist Kevin Lilley, who provides a no-nonsense lesson on basic pruning tools and techniques. Featured tools include: Extendable Pole Pruner (figure A) -- The extendable handle of this tool allows the user to work from the ground to trim the tips of high branches. Lilley explains that this tool can generally be used for any branch that will fit between its blades. Aluminum Pole Saw (figure B) -- Like the pole pruner, this tool makes it possible to reach high branches and can be used for thicker limbs that won't fit between the blades of the pole pruner. Pole saws are also available with wood or fiberglass handles. Safety Tip: Lilley cautions against using any aluminum-handled tool near electrical conductors or in any area when skies turn stormy. Hand Pruner (figure C) -- One of the most common pruning tools, this small pruner is ideal for trimming most shrubs and small tree branches. Hand Saw (figure D) -- This tool works well for small, thick branches that are too large to cut with the hand pruner. Choosing the right tool is half the battle -- the second half is getting the right cut! Lilley says one of the most common mistakes that gardeners make is disturbing the branch collar, the defensive zone where one limb branches out from another. Since this zone contains cells that allow the cut to "wall off" and resist infection, cutting into it can make the limb vulnerable to rot, which can work its way down the branch and throughout the tree. To avoid this pitfall, follow Lilley's steps for making a "three-point cut:" Identify the point where the limb to be cut branches out from its supporting limb. Follow this point down and outward to the edge of the supporting branch. The area will be slightly indented -- this is the ridge. At the top of the ridge, look for the slightly raised area around the point where the limbs meet -- this is the collar. From that point, envision a horizontal line that extends straight across the branch to be cut. Lilley marks this line -- along with the line of the ridge -- on the branch shown here (figure E). Make your cut cleanly above these points, leaving both the ridge and collar intact. Note: For a tour of Disney's Epcot Center map, click here , available using  .
RESOURCES :
Tools for pruning
Gardener's Supply Company
Burlington, VT 05401-2850
Fax: 800-551-6712 -or- 80
Email: info@gardeners.com
Website: www.gardeners.com
Easy, Practical Pruning: Techniques for Training Trees, Shrubs, Vines, and Roses
Model: 0395815916
Author: Barbara Ellis
Houghton Mifflin Co.
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-351-5000
Email: tradecustomerservice@hmco.com
Pruning Made Easy
Model: 1580170064
Author: Lewis Hill
224 pages
(February 1998)
Storey Books / Storey Communications Inc.
Website: www.storey.com
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