Late Winter Pruning Guide: When and How to Prune Shade and Fruit Trees
Saying “what a winter it’s been” hardly does justice to the season we’ve endured. Here in Western North Carolina, we were hit with an unusually harsh winter right on the heels of Hurricane Helene, leaving us little time to prepare for the cold as we normally would. And yet another understatement: the work of recovery and rebuilding is far from over. In times like these, any sense of normalcy feels distant—but perhaps tending to the land can offer a small step in that direction. There’s something grounding about the familiar rhythm of seasonal chores, and pruning, in particular, serves as both a practical task and a quiet act of resilience. This post is here to guide you in pruning shade trees, fruit trees, and other vegetation, helping repair storm damage and preparing for the season ahead.
General Guidelines for Pruning
Prune trees and flower shrubs before blooms emerge.
Prune the latest blooming fruit trees first (i.e., apples, pecans) and the earliest blooming last (i.e., cherry, plum).
Always make proper cuts with sharp tools to avoid damaging plants or creating an environment for fungal organisms to enter the tree.
Younger, less established trees should be pruned a few weeks later in the season to avoid winter damage from pruning.
Pruning Shade Trees
Shade trees, including oak, hickory, beech, black gum, poplar, and sycamore, should be pruned in late January or early February. For large limb removal, cut branches at the branch collar at a 45-degree angle, where the limb meets the trunk before the branch ridge line (see photo below). This technique will allow the tree to naturally protect against fungal infections, encouraging it to seal itself at the cut site.
Bleeder Trees: What Are They And When to Prune
Bleeder trees are a classification of trees that release sap when pruned or damaged. Birch, dogwood, elm, and maple trees are a few common bleeder trees found in North Carolina. When heavy pruning is needed, these types of trees should be pruned during the coldest part of the year, so get to pruning those as soon as possible. If your bleeder trees only need light pruning to maintain shape, wait until late summer. The same method as described for shade trees can be used for heavy pruning of bleeder trees.
Pruning Fruit Trees
Apple, pear, plum, cherry, and other fruit trees should be pruned annually in February to maximize fruit production and avoid limb breakage during the fruiting season. Pruning fruit trees while in their dormant state does not affect the stored energy they have to exert come spring. Too much dormant pruning, however, will divert this energy towards producing lots of vegetation instead of towards fruit.
Only remove dead, diseased, and damaged limbs during dormant pruning of fruit trees for maximum fruit production.
Late June is the best time to lightly prune water sprouts or upright new vegetal growth from fruit trees to allow light into the interior of the tree.
If you want to maintain or correct fruit tree form and structure, we recommend considering tree training instead of pruning.
Other Late Winter Pruning
Mountain Laurel: minimal maintenance pruning is never necessary, but if you have damaged mountain laurels from the hurricane, make sure you prune them before blooms emerge
Summer Flowering Shrubs: prune for shape
Overgrown shrubbery: can be pruned down to, but not more than, ⅓ of its current size for vigorous, healthy regrowth (i.e., boxwoods and holly)
Ornamental grasses: cut down to a few inches from the ground before spring growth begins
What Should I Do with Discarded Limbs?
Here are a few ideas for what to do with pruned branches:
Put them at the bottom of raised beds under other organic matter like leaves, compost, and topsoil (in that order) to encourage proper drainage and a long-term nutrient source as the wood decomposes.
Send them through a wood chipper to add to compost piles.
Use them as edging for flower beds.
Stack the branches and leave them alone as a habitat for insects, pollinators, reptiles, and small mammals.