Fall Pruning GIF

A GIF makes it easier to visualize branch removal.

Here’s a Chojubai as an example of fall pruning. The pruning shown here may be applied to many shrubs.

Although on first look the pruning looks uniform, it isn’t. With a closer look you may see:

• Lower shoots were cut short, to control basal dominance of the shrub
• Some higher shoots were uncut, to prevent larger, taller trunks from getting weak

A few other points:

• Retaining top shoots will help thicken the main trunks for contrast with thinner trunks
• These will be cut off late next year
• The selective pruning will continue for some years on this half-developed quince
• If we skipped fall pruning, the plant would weaken some areas, strengthen those we don’t want strengthened, and would—eventually—lose density and become leggy and coarse

The large box allows two things to happen at once: refinement of twigging by pruning twice a year, and selective fattening of some trunks by sometimes not pruning their shoots.

Chojubai is 29” wide, developed for over a decade from a small, 5 year old plant.