February is the month to prune evergreen and deciduous trees. General rules to follow are to prune dead and diseased wood first followed by removal of other wood to shape or thin as necessary. Always ...

One afternoon in the not too distant future I’m going to get out front and pollard my golden privets. It’s a good thing I garden with clothes on, pollarding can be painful. Pollarding started out in ...

Have you ever heard of pollarding? It’s a specialty tree pruning technique that is commonly used in England. It produces some interesting forms and colors for your garden. And it can be easy! Even if ...

I saw a group of trees that have been topped at the Garden, but I thought that topping trees was bad for them. — Angela Groskopf, Park Ridge You may be referring to the group of sycamore trees planted ...

Olive orchards formerly inhabited some of the regions that became urban in California. A few orchard trees remained within urban gardens of the homes that encroached on them. Unfortunately, for those ...

Pollarding is a type of severe pruning that results in a dense growth of branches at the pruning site instead of its naturally shaped crown. Last fall, I decided to pollard a catalpa tree to re-create ...

January and February are ideal months for pruning deciduous plants that are dormant. Before bringing out the saws and shears, do a little homework to research which plants should be pruned now and the ...

Q. We have nine mulberry trees that were pollarded in the past. Because pollarding causes many long branched to develop, I am wondering what the best pruning practice would be for maintaining the ...

Much has been written about crape murder and the practice of “topping” trees. Unfortunately, at this time of year, the work of tree hackers, both professional and layman, is evident just about ...

Q: I have been told by tree men that I need to prune my fruitless mulberry every year, and different arborists have recommended different types of trimming. I don't know whether they are telling me ...