Start with why
Before you start pruning, ask yourself what you’re trying to accomplish. Here everything was decided for me: the clients wanted size reduction for all of their shrubs. This blog post covers what I did to the Red twig dogwoods (Cornus sericea).
What do you notice in the picture below?
The point of planting red twig dogwoods is their red color which nicely stands out in the winter landscape once the leaves drop. This shrub is getting a bit tall but it’s nothing shocking.
Much worse is the base. I see many old, thick stems and several dead canes. This is the key: young canes sport the brightest red colors.
Let’s do it!
First, grab a good pair of hand snips; I use Felcos. You will also need loppers and a sharp handsaw to remove the biggest stems without blowing your wrist.
In step one I removed all black thick stems right at the base with my handsaw. This nicely opens up the shrub.
Step two involved the removal of dead canes. They’re useless and they detract from the show. What we want to see is a nice shrub with younger bright red stems.
The final step involved clipping the remaining canes at roughly one third. You can do whatever you like but remember to cut just above existing buds, if you can see them. And try to stagger the cuts so the canes aren’t all at exactly the same height. This way the shrub looks more natural.
All done. What do you think? We achieved the desired height reduction but it looks more like one quarter reduction, not one third.
All of the big black stems are gone; and so are all dead canes. Now we expect to see new bright red canes next year. Remember, the younger the cane, the brighter the color.
Bonus step
Every pruning job includes clean-up and green waste removal. I took the time to snip out small sections from the waste pile and brought them home. Now they sit on my kitchen table in a glass jar. Bonus.
