Today, spruce can be found in so many places. This beautiful plant is planted to decorate country, personal plots, in gardens, parks, squares, alleys. Coniferous culture is growing at a moderate pace and does not require much attention. However, despite the unpretentiousness of the tree, some measures should be taken to care for it. One of the necessary procedures is cropping.

Why do I need a haircut

Pruning, or cutting, is included in the list of mandatory procedures for the care of trees and shrubs. And if not all types of plants need the formation of the crown, then regular procedures for cutting problematic shoots for sanitary purposes should be carried out for all crops.

• Conifers are pruned to achieve several goals:
• to form a certain shape of the crown;
• give the plant a well-groomed appearance;
• limit growth;
• accelerate development;
• prevent the development of diseases and pest damage;
• facilitate the care of the crown;
• rejuvenate the plant;
• make the crown more magnificent.

Did you know? The oldest European spruce has its own name - Old Tikko. A tree of 9550 years old grows in the territory of the Fulufjallet National Park in Sweden.

Depending on the purpose for which the trimming is carried out, several types of it are distinguished:

1. Sanitary. During this procedure, sick, frostbite, dry, damaged, yellowed, incorrectly growing branches are cut out. The purpose of such a haircut is to prevent the spread of diseases, stimulate the growth of young shoots, remove branches that give the crown an irregular shape.
2. Formative. It is carried out in order to give the crown a conceived shape, to make it decorative, to give it fluffy. In the course of it, branches, intersecting shoots are also cut.
3. Anti-aging. The procedure is needed to enhance the growth of young shoots.

Species are also distinguished by the degree of trimming: strong, moderate and weak.

When to perform the procedure

The first pruning of the tree should be done immediately after planting. At this time, the crown is trimmed so that its size matches the size of the root system. If it is correctly implemented, then in the future it will not be necessary to resort to this procedure too often, and, perhaps, the forming trimmings (if it is not required to give the crown a certain shape) will not be needed anymore.

If the spruce grows in a small area and it is planned to give it a certain shape in the future, pruning can replace pruning - a procedure in which young shoots break out. This slows down the growth of the plant.

When planting fir trees in hedges, they are given the opportunity to grow in a natural way until they reach two years old. Only after this time begin to form a crown.

Trimming spruce with the aim of forming a crown can be carried out in August. At this time, shoot growth stops. A sanitary haircut is done in the spring, before the growth of the kidneys begins.

In late autumn and winter, this procedure is prohibited. This can cause serious harm to the tree, lead to the fact that it will suffer from frost and even die. The procedure is recommended to be carried out no more than 2 times a year. Time - the day when there is no sun.

To carry out pruning, you must have at hand such special garden tools, such as:

• secateurs;
• scissors;
• saw;
• knife;
• delimbers.

Before work, it is necessary to sharpen the tools well and disinfect them.

To process with a disinfectant is also the place of cuts after cutting. For this purpose, copper sulfate is most often used. And here the use of wound healing preparations, for example, garden var, RanNet paste for firs is not required. These trees secrete tar, which envelops the wounds, prevents the penetration of infections into them and promotes faster healing.

Important! Trimming should only be done with sanitized devices. After cutting one plant, it is necessary to expose the disinfection tools, for example, with medical alcohol, as well as to high temperatures, for example, calcination.

Is it possible to trim the crown so that the tree does not grow up

Often, the owners of spruce resort to trimming the crown to stop its growth. However, this is not the best option to limit growth. In this case, the branches that remained below the saw cut begin to bend up and grow actively.

As a result, one of these branches “rushes” forward, trying to replace the top of the head. However, it is not in the center, which distorts the shape of the crown. To restrain growth and improve the appearance, make the spruce more fluffy, will allow the usual haircut, in which annual growth every year evenly shortened by a third.

Video: pruning blue spruce for fluffy

Schemes for the formation of ordinary spruce

Norway spruce, or European, is most often grown either in its natural form or planted in hedges. In the latter case, after the plants have been in the soil for 2 years, their lateral shoots are shortened by 2/3, the apex by 1/3.

As a result, additional branching occurs. The procedure is repeated annually until the “live fence” reaches the desired height. In the future, it is only necessary to carry out supporting trimming, shortening the protruding shoots with garden shears.

Often when creating landscape decorative compositions, the spruce crown is shaped into a simple geometric shape, for example, a sphere, cone, pyramid, cylinder, cube. Without certain skills, it is quite difficult to do this. However, you can use the instructions and patterns of haircuts.

Important! Before deciding whether to plant a spruce on an ordinary site, in order to form a sphere, a pyramid or a cone from it, you should look at other species and varieties of these conifers. Today, many varietal specimens have been bred, which in the process of growth form interesting forms on their own, without cropping.

Spherical crown for fluffy

The crown of the geometric shape is formed using a wire or wooden frame. He needs to give the desired shape and fix it on the trunk. Without a frame, only experienced landscape designers work. Such designs can be made independently or purchased in a specialized store.

After fixing the ball of wire, proceed as follows:

1. In a young plant, before reaching two years of age, the top must be cut off.
2. Next, you need to trim the extra branches in an arc on one side, starting from the top of the head and moving to the lower shoots.
3. Shake branches to determine what other places need cropping.
4. Go to the other side and make a haircut on the same principle.
5. The lower part of the crown should be rounded.

A pruning shear should be used to trim young plants. More mature trees are trimmed with a brush cutter. It gives an even cut. The next time the procedure is repeated after 4-12 months.

To simplify the process of forming the ball, you can first make a cube, and then round its corners. It should be remembered that the main rule of pruning is to remove no more than 1/3 of the green mass at a time. Trees that are curly-cut require intensive fertilizing with mineral fertilizers.

Video: Glauka spruce formation

Cone

The conical shape is achieved while respecting the proportion between the height of the crown and the diameter of the base. It should be three to two. Thus, it is necessary that for a tree with a height of 1.5 m, the size of the lower branches across is 1 m. To achieve this, it is necessary to install a wire frame.

Next, proceed as follows:

1. Trim the upper shoot so that the central conductor remains no more than 2 m high.
2. Proceed to shear the shoots that extend beyond the cone, on the north side, gradually moving from the crown to the base, making smooth lines.
3. Carefully inspect the tree and cut protruding shoots that do not fit into the shape.

Pyramid

This figure can have a different number of faces - from three or more. Depending on what shape it is planned to cut the crown, it is necessary to draw a polygon in the trunk circle.

Then, in each corner, install a rail and fasten them at the top, forming the top of the pyramid. So the side edges of the geometric figure will be marked. In the future, it is necessary to trim all the branches that will protrude beyond the limits of the rails.

Video: the formation of the crown of the fir pyramid

Cylinder

A cylinder or cone is made like a pyramid, only at the base do not draw a polygon, but a circle. Along the entire diameter, in vertical position, parallel to each other, install rails that reach the desired height of the figure.

So that they maintain a straight position above and below, horizontally they can be connected by wire. Pruning is done gradually, moving from the top to the lower branches.

Did you know? The world-famous Italian master of stringed instruments, Antonio Stradivari, cut the upper decks of his unique violins from ordinary spruce wood.

Cube

To form a cubic figure, it is necessary to draw a square on the ground around the trunk of the spruce. At its tops, you need to vertically install the rails that will limit the side ribs. From above they must be connected by four horizontal bars marking the upper face.

Shear should be cut with hedge trimmers. First, the branches need to be cut to a height a couple of centimeters higher than the frame marked with rails. Then arm with secateurs and “smooth” the faces. In the future, it is necessary to carry out supporting cropping, adjusting the sides of the green cube.

Thus, pruning spruce is an important care event that is carried out for several purposes. It has a positive effect on the health and decorativeness of the tree. When carrying out the procedure, it is important to consider the variety and age of the coniferous plant. If you have the necessary skills and tools, a shaping haircut can be done independently. If there are none, you should seek the help of specialists.