Okay, so, I finally got around to pruning my hawthorn this past weekend. It’s something I’d been putting off, but the tree was starting to look a bit wild, so it was time.
First things first, I took a good look at the whole tree. I walked around it a few times, just to get a feel for its shape and see if there were any obvious branches that needed to go. I looked for branches that were dead, looked diseased or any crossing each other.
Since it’s winter now, the tree’s dormant, which I read is the best time to prune. I know, I know, I should have done this earlier in the winter, but hey, better late than never, right?
I started with the small stuff. Just used my hand pruners to snip off any little twigs and branches that were clearly dead or just looked weak. I felt like I was giving the tree a little haircut. I cut off anything that was crossing or rubbing. I also removed some of the branches growing straight up from the main limbs. I learned that these are called “watersprouts” and they don’t really do much for the tree.
Then came the bigger branches. I grabbed my trusty pruning saw for these. There were a couple of thicker branches that were growing too close together, so I decided to take one of them out. I also noticed a few branches that were starting to droop down too low, so I trimmed those back a bit, too.
Here’s what I did step by step:
- Checked the tree: Looked for dead or sick branches.
- Small cuts: Used hand pruners for little twigs and weak branches.
- Big cuts: Used a saw for thicker branches that were too close or droopy.
- Cleaned up: Got rid of all the branches I cut off.
After I was done, I made sure to clean up all the branches and twigs I had cut off. I tossed them in my compost bin.
Honestly, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. And the tree looks much better now, all cleaned up and ready for spring. Plus, I think it will be way healthier and produce more flowers next year.
I’m no expert, but I think it turned out pretty good! Now I just have to wait and see how it does when spring comes around.
