It was a chilly, overcast afternoon when our group of gardeners from the Driftwood Garden Club arrived at Long Hill Reservation in Beverly to participate in a pruning workshop. Dan and Melissa, who care for the Long Hill property year round, were our friendly and knowledgeable instructors for the afternoon. They greeted us outside at a work table laid out with various pruning tools.
After an introduction, Dan began his talk with why and when we prune our trees and shrubs. He said to follow the four D’s: if a branch is dead, diseased, damaged, or dysfunctional (a branch might cross over another branch or grow in an awkward position), it is time to be pruned. Then he and Melissa talked in length about appropriate tools and how to use them.
Beginning with an ordinary pair of pruning shears (the blade can be curved or straight), Dan said that gardeners often attempt to cut too large a branch with these small shears, and they can injure the tree by crushing the remaining edge of the branch. He said that trees heal themselves after pruning, but that a crushed edge can impede the healing and even invite bacteria into the tree. Their advice was to not cut anything larger than your pinky finger with the handheld pruner. In fact, he said, trimming flowers and stems of a rose bush is what these pruners should be used for.
The lopper, everyone’s favorite, is another misused pruning tool. Again, gardeners attempt to cut a branch that is either too high overhead (not allowing you to get a good clean cut) or by cutting something too big, thus damaging the remaining branch. Need to cut a larger branch? Use a small pruning saw which can be folded and stored in your garden tool bag. There is even a pocket-sized pruning saw which is very convenient and very sharp. Dan and Melissa also demonstrated how, with a small file, we could sharpen our own bladed tools if we wanted to. Just be careful, and slowly follow the edge of the blade with the file.
The group then followed Dan and Melissa to a large viburnum bush in need of some care. We looked for the four D’s and pointed out some of the branches that could be taken out. Several of our members demonstrated their pruning skills on the viburnum, and it looked much better after being pruned.
We made our way to the lower gardens, taking pruning shears with us, and spent the remainder of our time pruning roses and other small bushes in the gardens. We all learned some new things, refreshed our knowledge of others, and had a wonderful afternoon at Long Hill.
Driftwood Garden Club 