How to Prune in a Vase Configuration

Pruning Young Trees and Shrubs

• 1

  Drive a wooden stake in the ground to the desired height on the trunk for branching to begin. The vase shape can begin at ground level for shrubs that are naturally multi-stemmed, but for fruit trees and any other plants that can grow from a single trunk, it is possible to determine the height at which branching will begin. The tree can be trained to a vase shape above this point.

• 2

  Secure the trunk to the stake with green garden tape as it grows. Prune off any side shoots that appear and allow the trunk to grow 6 to 12 inches above the top of the stake.

• 3

  Cut back the trunk to the height of the stake. This will stimulate lateral branches to emerge from dormant buds just beneath the cut. Select three or four of these stems as permanent branches -- they should be evenly spaced around the main trunk and form an angle of roughly 45 degrees with the trunk. These will form the basic structure of the vase configuration for the life of the plant.

Pruning Established Plants

• 4

  Prune out any growth that sprouts from the roots or from the trunk below the primary rack of branches that form the vase structure.

• 5

  Remove branches that grow toward the center of the tree or shrub, cutting them flush to the larger branch where they originate.

• 6

  Remove any vigorous, vertical branches that develop, as these are an attempt by the plant to reestablish a dominant vertical trunk.