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Late Winter Pruning

We appear to be rounding the corner into spring a bit early here in SW Missouri. That puts us into the late stages of availability for late winter pruning.  Many trees benefit from being pruned just before winter ends. There are a number of reasons for this, which we will cover in this article, but the summary of it is that there are fewer diseases and pests moving around in the winter, it’s close enough to spring that the trees won’t go a long time before beginning their healing, and without the leaves, the stems and branches are more visible. Finally, the trees have not started growing in any given direction yet, so it’s a great time to make decisions for this next season’s growth. All in all, it isn’t a deal killer to wait until later, but for those looking to optimize outcomes, now is the time!

Disease and Pests Dormant

The most obvious reason is that because it’s been frozen, much of the disease and pests are dormant. That means that the portions we expose through pruning will not be as likely to be attacked. And since it is soon spring, the sap will begin to run soon, which means the trees’ immune systems are getting started again in earnest. So there is the least amount of time between getting cut and starting to heal when there is also the least threat to the treas.

Plants Have Hormones Too

Trees have hormones too - and some of those hormones are related to promoting growth.  These hormones come from a number of different locations in the tree, but the ones most impacted by pruning are the apical and bud meristems, which are located at the tips of roots and shoots and where there is a bud. Since trees only grow longer via the growth that happens at the apical meristems, you have control over where the tree will focus it’s growth resources by pruning shoots (and the meristems at the tip of them) you don’t want. Doing this now is ideal because it’s very soon when these hormones will be released and will direct the tree to allocate resources accordingly. It’s also ideal because it’s easier to see the structure of the branches and shoots now than later.  On the other hand, pruning in the spring causes the tree to have to revamp its plan a little in mid-stride, which is not ideal - it hits resource allocation which also hits the immune system.

Trees That Benefit

Examples of trees that benefit the most from late winter pruning include: deciduous trees, which are dormant during this period of time - these are trees like oak, maple, ash, beech, and elm.  Fruit trees also need to be pruned now because resource allocation (energy efficiency) is important when you are wanting a fruitful outcome! Oaks and maples are susceptible to diseases like oak wilt and sapstreak, which are much more likely to infect in the warmer seasons.


It is important to note that some trees do better to be pruned at other times of the year.  In order to find out the best plan for your trees, reach out for an estimate from us and mention you want to know more about the best way to manage pruning with your set of trees.  Our certified arborist will be happy to come out and talk through your specific situation.