Featured Tool: 16′ Pole Pruner
The VTL has a great collection of garden tools that are finally seeing good use now that spring is here! One of our favourites is the 16′ Pole Pruner, which is definitely not a tool that everyone needs to own for themselves! Our pole pruners features both a saw, for larger branches, and a pruner, for smaller branches.
The pole pruner is useful for getting those out of reach branches and minimizing the need to use a ladder while pruning (which can be unstable when used on uneven surfaces such as lawns, not to mention difficult to safely manouvre on). Pruning is best done in the spring or fall, when the tree has yet to come fully out of it’s winter dormancy. For some shrub and tree species, it’s still ok to prune at this time of year but summer is creeping up on us so act quickly if there is pruning that you need to do this year!
Pruning is done for a number of reasons: to promote plant health, to maintain a plant’s intended purpose such as producing fruit or forming a screen, and also to protect people and property (ie: removing dead or hazardous branches). As any arbourist will tell you, there is a real art (and science!) to pruning, and learning about how trees respond to different kinds of cuts is pretty fascinating (and easy to pick up) stuff, and will quickly help you achieve the results you wanted to achieve. Needless to say, we suggest reading a few guides before heading out into the garden with your tools! Here are a couple suggested resources on pruning, most of them guides from American Agricultural Extension Service agents (which are a great resource for all other kinds of gardening advice and information, too!).
- Pruning Coniferous/Evergreen Trees
- Training and Pruning Fruit Trees – with good colour photos
- Short Guide to Pruning Trees and Shrubs
- For the real keeners: Guide to Training and Pruning Your Home Orchard
Happy spring! Good luck in the garden.