How to Prune Chamaecyparis Pisifera 'Boulevard'

Check for dead, diseased and broken wood any time of the year. Remove the wood to a healthy branch immediately, removing with thinning cuts at the point of origin and well below the diseased area. Disinfect tools with a solution of 1 part bleach and 3 parts water if they came in contact with a diseased branch.

Select growing tips and older stems to remove to encourage more dense growth at pruning points during the growing season. Remove growing tips of branches less than 2 years old with pruning shears for branches 1/2 to 3/4 inches in diameter. Prune off older stems back to lateral branches less than one-third the diameter of the stem with lopping shears for branches 3/4 to 2 inches in diameter.

Select old branches from all around the tree that block air and light penetration, choosing about one-third of the tree's branches during the dormant season. Cut the selected branches about 1/4 inch outside the branch collar, the swollen area between the base of the branch and a parent branch, at a 45- to 60-degree angle.

Remove larger selected limbs with a three-cut method: cut halfway through the underside of the branch 12 inches from the trunk with a pruning saw, then cut through the top side of the branch 1 inch past the first cut, causing the branch to break off. Remove the branch completely with a third cut outside the branch collar.