Summer Pruning

Now is a great time for ‘plant therapy’ because you can snip a little today, a little tomorrow and eventually get your shrubs back into shape.

Mid to late August is a good time to prune branches and shrubs that have died or are starting to fill in where you sheared them earlier. Tree branch pruning should be held off until leaves drop so you don’t encourage water sprouts or new branches that will be poorly branched and will break off easily as they mature. And it will be certainly easier to see which branches and where they need to be cut.

While you are pruning, why not scout for existing scale bodies attached to bark and branches on euonymus and magnolia? An summer oil spray (2% vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons per gallon) or Sevin would be effective in their control.

While you are scouting, you may notice lichen growing on your shrubs or trees. They are not harmful so you don’t need to treat or remove it but perhaps, reading this article may help clarify things for you~

Article on Lichens on branches

Happy Gardening!