Needled evergreens that are not planted as hedges or for topiary usually don’t need much pruning other than to remove dead, diseased, or damaged branches.

Pinching off the flower buds on basil plants, such as this Thai basil, encourages new growth and formation of bushy plants.

Needled evergreens that are not planted as hedges or for topiary usually don’t need much pruning other than to remove dead, diseased, or damaged branches.

Pruning trees and shrubs in the home landscape can be a mystery and a source of anxiety to many folks. This is especially true it seems when it comes to pruning needled evergreens. Well, fear not. Needled evergreens that are not planted as hedges or for topiary usually don’t need much pruning other than to remove dead, diseased, or damaged branches. When removing these branches, just cut back to their point of origin on the main stem or back to a healthy lateral branch.

Keep in mind that junipers, arborvitae, chamaecyparis, hemlocks, pines, spruce, and firs typically do not have live buds on old wood. Therefore, pruning to control shape or size should be light and confined to a portion of the new growth. Never cut shoots back into the old leafless wood.

Most needled evergreens should be left to develop their natural shape. They should not be sheared except to create formal shapes since shearing results in a very dense shell of needles at the outer regions of the plant and causes excessive shading on the interior portions. This in turn leads to premature shedding of the inner needles, creating a dead zone in the center of the tree or shrub. The evergreens mentioned above do not regenerate new branches or needles from old wood to fill in the dead zone.

Corrective pruning of pines, spruce, and firs should be done while the trees are still young. Once they are overgrown, corrective pruning cannot be done without destroying their natural shapes. If the main stem of young specimens of these trees has unusually long internodes (distance between needles), which creates a very sparse looking plant, pinch or cut off about one half of the new growth. Do this now before the new needles have lengthened. This will promote more branching and a denser plant. Do not do this routinely every year as it may lead to excessive shading of the interior of the tree. To restrict the upright growth of these trees, similar pinching of the leader or main stem may be done. If a young tree should develop more than one leader, remove all but one. If a leader is damaged, it can be replaced by tying one of the lateral branches in the top whorl of branches to a vertical brace.

It is not unusual for low-growing and creeping junipers to become overcrowded. In that case, remove entire branches by selective thinning, or by cutting back to stems pointing outward. This is best done in early spring. When doing this pruning, do not leave stubs. If there are branches that have diseases or have been winterkilled, remove these as just described.

Of the needled evergreens, yews and hemlocks are the most tolerant of shearing, which is why they are so often used as hedges. Shearing of these should be done in spring after most growth has occurred, but do be careful not to cut back into the aforementioned dead zone with hemlocks. Since yews produce live buds all along their stems, they can be cut back as far as desired. However, if hard pruning is needed to rejuvenate an old yew plant, do it before it begins new growth in spring.

Do not prune this list of gardening tasks for this week: 

Pinching off the flower buds on basil plants, such as this Thai basil, encourages new growth and formation of bushy plants.

Garden Journal columnist Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service.

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