Thuja pruning (cutting) in autumn, spring: spiral, cone formation, decorative pruning forms for beginners

The unpretentious thuja has long won the hearts of gardeners with its endurance and luxurious appearance. Not only competent care, but also timely pruning of the thuja will help maintain and enhance the beauty of this plant.

Is it possible to trim thuja

To the question whether it is possible to cut thuja, the answer must be unequivocal: yes. This plant is among those for which proper pruning not only does not harm, but also brings benefits, favorably affecting the development of shoots and crown density. Trimming these conifers has several purposes:

• cleansing the crown of dead needles;
• getting rid of diseased, injured branches;
• thinning out an excessively thick crown;
• limiting unwanted needle growth;
• shaping a certain silhouette from needles.

Timely decorative pruning and crown formation helps to preserve the decorative qualities of the thuja for a long time and advantageously present them in the landscape design of the site. Different varieties of Western thuja require an individual approach. Cone-shaped or columnar varieties are cut with different frequencies, which depend on the speed of plant growth:

Spherical conifers have an even lower growth rate, so they can be pruned even less frequently, taking care only of sanitary cleaning of the crown. As with all varieties of thuja, it should be carried out 2 times a year.

Types and tasks of pruning thuja

As already noted, there are 2 types of thuja pruning:

• sanitary;
• decorative or formative.

Sanitary pruning is necessary for all varieties of this plant for healthy development. During this procedure, yellowed needles are removed from the surface of the crown and near the trunk so that pests and fungi do not grow on the thuja. Also, with sanitary pruning, they get rid of dry and damaged shoots, which is why the crown of the conifer becomes thicker and more beautiful.

Formative pruning is not necessary for the well-being of plants, but serves aesthetic purposes. They resort to it when they want to reduce the growth rate of a tree and give it the desired shape.

When can thujas be trimmed: in spring or autumn?

The key to successfully maintaining the decorative qualities of the thuja and its health lies in carefully planning the timing of pruning.The optimal time for the procedure depends on the type of ephedra and the purposes for which it is carried out. Thus, sanitary pruning of thuja is carried out at least twice a year: the first time in the spring and the second time with the arrival of autumn. Spring treatment of plants is aimed at removing dried and frozen shoots during frosts and subsequent activation of plant growth. Autumn pruning of trees, in turn, serves to facilitate their wintering.

As for the decorative formation of the crown, it is carried out from late April to mid-August. A later cutting may damage the flower buds that form on the tops of the thuja shoots in early autumn. And this will be fraught with a lack of growth and flowering next year.

Preparation of tools and materials

Although pruning thuja may seem like a rather complicated task, requiring expensive equipment, it is not at all necessary to have a wide range of tools to do it. The branches of the plant and its needles are not particularly thick, and therefore even beginners in this matter will need only two basic tools:

• pruner;
• gardening scissors.

Secateurs are useful for thinning the crown of a tree and removing branches, and garden shears will help you smoothly trim the shoots and give them the desired silhouette.

Among the latter, mechanical and electrical models are distinguished. Everyone must decide for themselves which scissors are best to choose, but based on the experience of gardeners, it is worth noting that an electric tool is most suitable for professional pruning of numerous plantings.If thujas grow in small quantities on the site, preference should be given to mechanical shears.

In addition to pruning shears and scissors, some plant growers use a sickle, which can be used to trim the thickest thuja branches. All of the above tools must be sharpened before cutting, since blunt instruments can seriously injure the crown of the thuja. After pruning trees, tools should be washed and dried thoroughly.

The procedure itself should be performed with gloves and a protective robe or apron, since thuja tends to secrete resin, which will be very difficult to remove if it gets on clothes.

How to prune thujas in spring

To maintain the health of the thuja and properly carry out spring sanitary pruning, you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of this procedure:

1. For work, choose a day when the sky is completely covered with clouds in order to avoid burns on the cut thuja shoots. At the same time, the cutting schedule is planned so that there is no rain in the next few days after it.
2. Immediately before the procedure, the conifer is carefully examined for diseases and fungi. It is permissible to trim branches only on healthy thujas.
3. During the pruning process, dry, damaged, yellowed and diseased branches are removed.
4. If the crown of the thuja is excessively thick, it is thinned out, removing no more than 30% of the green mass of the plant in one procedure. At the same time, thinning of thuja varieties is not required.
5. After trimming is completed, the tree is watered generously.

In order to consolidate the information, it will be useful for beginners to watch a video about pruning thuja in the spring:

Similar actions are followed not only in the spring, but also before decorative pruning of the plant.

Decorative forms of pruning thuja

The popularity of thuja in landscape design is easily explained by the fact that the culture is ideal for various kinds of decorative haircuts. With the help of the right tools, it can be given a wide variety of shapes without much effort, which gardeners actively use, regularly coming up with new design options for this plant. And although creative imagination is sometimes unpredictable, all silhouettes can be reduced to a few simple figures, including:

• pyramid;
• ball;
• cone;
• cube;
• Column;
• spiral.

When choosing how best to trim a thuja, you should focus, first of all, on the natural shape of its crown - this way the trimming form will look more harmonious and fit better into the surrounding environment. Experience also matters: novice designers will find it easier to start with basic geometric shapes such as a ball, cone or pyramid.

How to trim thuja depending on the variety and type

Since during the decorative formation of thuja they are guided mainly by the shape of its habit, it is quite obvious that for some figures some varieties of this conifer are better suited than others.

Thuja Smaragd is considered a universal variety because it easily tolerates pruning and grows quickly. Because of these features, their crowns can be trimmed to almost any shape. You can often see plants of this variety shaped like pyramids and cones. There are also more complex silhouettes of balls on stands, chess pieces and even various animals.

Those who want to have thujas in the form of columns on their site should pay attention to varieties of thujas with a dense elongated crown, for example, Columna, Fastigiata, Yellow Ribon.

The pyramidal and cone-shaped silhouettes highlight the beauty of the Brabant and Holmstrup varieties.

The crown of thuja species such as Woodwardy, Hosery, Globosum and Danica looks most harmonious in spherical compositions.

How to cut a thuja with a cone

Of all the options that allow you to artistically trim thuja, perhaps the easiest to implement is the cone shape. It is used for many varieties, in particular for Smaragd, Holmstrup and Brabant. In order for the cone to be symmetrical, you will need 3 wooden slats, slightly longer than the height of the tree, to create a frame. Next, pruning is carried out according to the following algorithm.

1. The slats are placed above the plant at an equal distance from each other to form a hut. They should fit snugly against the thuja.
2. The upper parts of the boards are tied together with twine.
3. The branches in the space between the yards are slowly trimmed with garden shears.
4. Having adjusted the sides of the thuja, the frame is removed, after which the lower part of the conifer is leveled.

How to cut a thuja with a spiral

Spiral-shaped trees will serve as an unusual decorative element of the landscape. A spiral haircut looks especially attractive on tall thujas, for example, varieties Brabant or Smaragd. Its formation occurs as follows:

1. The top of the plant is tied with a rope or tape, after which the rope is passed around the tree along its crown to the very base and secured to the ground so that the winding cannot move.
2. Using garden shears, outline the outlines of future pruning.
3. Then, following the contour, the needles located closer to the thuja trunk are cut off. In this case, the change in the length of the branches should be clearly visible.
4. At the end of the process, the rope is removed from the tree.

The advantage of such pruning is that the spirals have a huge variety of variations in the number of turns, their width and smoothness, so this form will be able to decorate the garden in any style.

Those who want to learn more about how to trim a thuja and give it a spiral shape may be interested in the following video:

How to trim a thuja with a ball

It is easiest to use spherical pruning on low-growing varieties of thuja Globosum, Hoseri, and Danica. To do this, the top of the trees is cut off so that they subsequently grow wider and not higher. Then visually assess the length of the remaining branches and shorten those that are out of the intended shape, while trying to trim the plant by no more than a third. Deeper pruning can lead to a decrease in the bush’s immunity and further conifer diseases.

Topiary haircut thuja

Recently, topiary pruning of thujas has been gaining popularity. It involves the use of a special wire frame in the form of a certain figure, inside which the plant is planted. As the thuja develops, it becomes wider and taller, and as soon as its branches begin to extend beyond the frame, the excess greenery is cut to fit and the frame is removed.

Many people prefer this method of pruning, since it is easier to perform and during the process of forming the crown, the risk of trimming the tree too much is very low. In addition, such frames are produced not only in the form of geometric shapes, but also in more complex shapes that can be selected based on your own taste. However, such pruning is possible only if the thuja grows under the frame from the moment of planting. Adult conifers will not be able to trim their crown this way.

How to properly trim thuja in the shape of a pyramid

In order to trim a thuja into a pyramid shape, a principle similar to forming a crown into a cone is used. However, in this case, the frame will need a number of slats equal to the number of faces of the future figure. Moreover, during 1 haircut session, the needles are cut on all edges at the same time so that the silhouette is symmetrical. The most beautiful pyramids are made from trees of the Brabant, Smaragd and Holmstrup varieties.

Other decorative forms of cutting thuja

Simple options for decorative pruning include an egg-shaped shape. This haircut will be possible even for “dummies” in the matter of decorative pruning, since it is close to the natural silhouette of the crown of many spherical thujas, for example, Wagner, therefore, on these varieties, performing such pruning requires a minimum of effort. Plants with a crown that tends upward can be given this shape by cutting off the top of them.

If you need to quickly trim the tall thuja Smaragd, Columna or Yellow Ribbon, you should trim it to the shape of a column. In itself, such a figure is very decorative, and if too much greenery was cut off, another figure can be made from it. For cutting, wooden slats are also useful, which are installed around the tree in a circle.To prevent the column from becoming skewed, the trunk of the plant must be located in the center. If desired, for a more aesthetic composition, trim the top of the thuja.

Plants trimmed in the form of cubes look original. Performing such pruning is not at all difficult, especially on low-growing spherical thujas:

1. The outline of a square is marked on the ground.
2. Wooden slats are driven into its corners, matching in length with the sides of the intended square.
3. The installed slats are connected to each other by horizontal boards.
4. Plants are trimmed starting from the top edge, slightly above the frame.
5. Then the side edges are trimmed.
6. Finally, the lower part of the crown is adjusted.

Is it possible to trim the top of a thuja?

You can trim the top of the thuja without any fear, since this plant recovers well after pruning. Moreover, sometimes when performing decorative pruning, it is necessary to trim the upper branches to give the tree the desired shape or height. In addition, pruning the top shoots will cause the thuja crown to grow thicker as the side branches receive more nutrients.

How to prune thuja for the winter

At the end of August, a second sanitary pruning of the thuja is carried out, designed to prepare the tree for winter. It is carried out as follows:

1. Plants are cleaned of dried and damaged shoots.
2. Some branches are removed from the thuja trunk to improve air circulation in winter.
3. Large cuts that do not heal well without outside intervention are covered with garden varnish.
4. Excessively long branches that stick out from the crown are cut off from the thuja so that they do not break under the weight of freshly fallen snow.

Caring for thuja after cutting

Although the thuja tolerates pruning quite easily, it still experiences some stress after this procedure. Therefore, for better recovery, the plant should be provided with proper care.

1. After pruning, moisture from the needles evaporates faster, so at the end of the process it is worth watering the tree, using at least 10 liters of liquid.
2. If the crown formation occurs in May, you can feed the plant with Kemira universal fertilizer, using 100 g of the composition per 1 m2. In the summer, there is no need to feed thuja.
3. You can treat the tree with stimulants Zircon or Epin Extra, which will activate plant growth and thus reduce the stress level of the conifer after pruning.
4. If there are deep cuts on the thuja after cutting, they should be examined. Healthy plants will successfully heal with their own resin, but injuries on weakened thujas that lack resin need to be treated with fruit tree paste or garden varnish.

After pruning the western thuja, you should carefully monitor its condition and then monitor all negative changes, since the plant’s immunity remains weakened for some time, which is why the risk of pests remains.

Conclusion

Pruning thuja plays an important role in caring for this plant.If you follow a number of simple rules, this wonderful perennial conifer will serve as the main original decoration of the site for a long time.

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