Welcome to Summer! Experientially, summer began last week with several days of intense heat that were challenging for people, pets, other critters, and plants. But in terms of hours of sunlight, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere will occur this Thursday, June 20 at 2:50 pm here in Colorado, officially beginning our summer season. Mikl has some thoughts on one of the interesting opportunities the Summer Solstice offers for gardeners with trees and shrubs.
PRUNING at SUMMER SOLSTICE
If your goal is to reduce growth and contain the size of your tree(s), the best time to prune them is NOW, around the Summer Solstice – the longest days of the year. Why does this work? In the book ‘Grow A Little Fruit Tree,’ Ann Ralph explains:
“The summer solstice in late June marks the midpoint in the annual growth cycle. By the time of the solstice, a tree’s resources have migrated from the roots and trunk and are stored primarily in the leaves. Solstice pruning removes some of these resources; fewer resources means less vigorous growth, much like cutting the calories of a too-energetic eater. Summer pruning slows a tree down….”
Pruning anytime near the solstice will have this somewhat ‘dwarfing’ effect. In this way, you can reduce and contain the size of a standard-size fruit tree to make the fruit more accessible and allow more trees in a smaller space, but this method can be applied to any tree or shrub.