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Early spring is a golden time for gardeners, but at the same time, it’s a period of “great risks.” The desire to tidy up the garden as quickly as possible often leads to mistakes that can cost a tree its harvest, health, or even life.
Here is a detailed analysis of the most common mistakes to avoid during spring pruning.
1️⃣ Timing mistakes: “Too early” or “Too late”
This is the most critical mistake.
▪️Too early: If you prune while severe night frosts are still occurring, the cut site may freeze. The bark around the wound peels off, and the tree starts to get sick.
▪️Too late: If you delay pruning until sap flow has begun (buds have swollen and are about to open), the tree will start “bleeding.” Along with the sap, nutrients are lost, which weakens the plant and creates an ideal environment for fungal diseases.
Tip: The optimal time is when the temperature has stabilized above -5°C, but the buds are still dormant.
2️⃣ Using dirty or blunt tools
Many people treat pruners like ordinary scissors, but they are actually surgical instruments.
▪️A blunt blade doesn’t cut, it “chews” the wood. Ragged wounds heal much more slowly.
▪️A dirty tool is the main carrier of diseases (black rot, moniliosis). If you prune a diseased tree and then move to a healthy one without disinfecting, you are spreading infection throughout your garden.
Tip: Always sharpen blades and wipe them with alcohol or chlorhexidine after working on any suspicious tree.
3️⃣ Incorrect cutting technique: “Stubs” and “Tears”
Gardeners usually make two opposite mistakes here:
▪️Leaving stubs: If you cut a branch too far from the trunk, the stub dries out, rots, and becomes the start of a cavity.
▪️Flush cuts: If you cut too deeply, damaging the trunk, you destroy the branch’s protective ring, and the wound will never heal over with bark.
Tip: Cut “at the collar” — at the swelling at the branch base. If cutting to a bud, the angle should be about 45°, with the upper edge a few millimeters above the bud tip.
4️⃣ Over-pruning (The “bare tree” syndrome)
Beginners often get carried away and remove too much living wood at once.
- Removing more than 25–30% of the canopy in one season shocks the tree.
- In response, the tree rapidly produces “water sprouts” (vertical shoots that don’t bear fruit but sap the tree’s energy).
Tip: If the tree is badly neglected, spread rejuvenation over 2–3 years.
5️⃣ Ignoring the top and shading issues
Pruning is often limited to lower branches, which are easier to reach. As a result:
▪️The top of the tree becomes a dense “cap.”
▪️Lower branches don’t get sunlight, weaken, and stop bearing fruit.
▪️The crown’s center becomes an ideal place for aphids and scab due to poor ventilation.
Tip: The crown should resemble a bowl or be open enough for “a sparrow to fly through.”
6️⃣ Incorrect wound treatment
There is still debate about garden pitch. Modern research shows that a thick layer of cheap petroleum-based pitch creates a “greenhouse effect” under the sun, causing the wood to rot under the film.
Tip: Small cuts (up to 1–2 cm) will heal themselves. Large wounds are best treated with special lacquers or water-based paint with fungicide added.
