Arborvitae, Juniper, Pine Pruning

Following these guidelines will provide good shapes.

Good pruning practices will favorably affect your garden with natural, beautifully shaped shrubs and trees.

Most Arborvitae, Juniper, and Pine are used in the landscape for their natural shape and feathery appearance. The natural shape and feathery appearance are best maintained with small hand pruners or proper size lopping shears.

Pruning tips…

The best technique to reduce spread or height is to trace individual branches back to a side shoot and prune just above the side shoot. This will force the shoot at the cut on the side shoot into growth helping maintain the natural shape of the plant. Too often hedge shears are used resulting in dense new growth occurring only in one area and giving a stiff, unnatural shape.

Thick new growth on the outside of the plant will be more susceptible to insect and disease attacks. Older Junipers, Pines, and Arborvitaes cannot be pruned drastically without altering their shape and risking a very slow or incomplete recovery of the plant. More often than not, older stems pruned back beyond or below side branches or existing foliage will fail to respond and stems may remain bare. The reason for this is that older branches of Pine, Cedar, or Arborvitae do not have dormant buds; consequently, there will be little if any growth reoccurring on these stems.

Gardeners can avoid these decisions if they will begin pruning and shaping while the plants are young. Yearly care in pruning will help reduce the need for severe pruning and shaping while the plants are young. Yearly care in pruning will help reduce the need for severe pruning or replacement for overgrown shrubs or small trees.

For more information on pruning Arborvitae, Juniper and pine, contact your local County Extension Office.