Morgan - The complete guide to pruning trees and bushes: everything you need to know explained simply

The Complete Guide to

Pruning Trees and Bushes

Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

By K.O. Morgan

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Author Dedication

This book is dedicated to my late father, Kenneth B. Morgan, who did not have a green thumb but admired those who do.

Introduction

Pruning is the act of clearing excess vegetation from a plant to remove diseased tissue, reinvigorate growth, increase fruit or nut production, or optimize the space the plant occupies. Some people strongly believe that plants should grow naturally because nature takes care of any problems that could occur along the way. Also, some organic purists think crop-producing trees should grow freely without ever seeing the sharp blade of a pruning tool. On the surface, this philosophy makes sense: Trees and plants growing wildly in our forests seem perfectly healthy to a casual observer whizzing by in a car at 60 mph. But, take a closer look at forest growth. You will first notice on closer observation the major battle going on in the forest for space and light. Fast-growing, invasive trees stemming from seed-infested bird droppings create life-sapping shade as they steal nutrients and moisture from the root systems of century-old oaks. Huge limbs damaged from insects, wind, and ice storms dangle from trees, threatening plants below. Dead limbs that harbor termites and other insects that can move into living trees, eventually killing them, litter the forest floor. Dead branches that hang low to the ground and shade out broad-leafed herbs called forbs and grasses, which provide valuable wildlife food, restrict the movement of large animals. To make matters worse, imported garden plants that wildlife cannot eat have escaped cultivation and have sprouted up everywhere.