How to Prune a Neglected Scotch Pine

Scotch pine, also known as Scots pine, is a needle-bearing member of the evergreen family, commonly grown and pruned for use as Christmas trees. To maintain shape and control volume, these plants require pruning in early summer. If they're pruned any later, they won't develop new buds for growth the next year. Some gardeners say that a neglected Scotch pine is beyond repair, but with careful pruning and patience, its shape is controllable. These trees are naturally self-pruning, so they maintain a basic conical shape, although not the perfect cone typical of Christmas trees.

Pruning saw
Pruning shears
Lopping shears

Instructions

- 1
  Trim lower branches at a 45-degree angle close to the branch collar until you reach a level with a complete whorl. A whorl is a ring of branches that wrap around the tree at the same level; sometimes there are a few sporadic lower branches that don't form a complete whorl.
- 2
  Make a series of three cuts to prune branches larger than 1-inch diameter. With a pruning saw, cut halfway through the underside of the branch, about 12 inches out from the trunk, then measure in 1-inch from the first cut and cut down halfway through from the top of the branch. The end of the branch should snap off, at which point you can cut the branch at a 45-degree angle next to the branch collar.
- 3
  Trim one-third to two-thirds of the new growth; use lopping shears for precision cutting or a machete for quick cutting. The new growth, also called candles, is easy to recognize because it is a lighter shade of green than the rest of the tree.
- 4
  Trim more than two-thirds of the candles as necessary if some wild branches are much longer than others and you wish to rein them back in to shape the tree.
- 5
  Cut the central leader at a 45-degree angle, leaving an 8- to 10-inch tip; make the cut about 1-inch above a healthy bud, which will grow to be the central leader in the next season. The central leader is the main branch from the center of the tree; if two or more central leaders have formed, cut them off at the main stem.
- 6
  Wait until winter when the tree is dormant, then trim the ends of the branches to further shape the tree, if desired, then repeat the process again in June or July. Continue this pattern of pruning twice annually until the tree is back in a controlled shape, then resume only with the summer pruning.

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