A step-by-step guide to pruning sea buckthorn in the fall
Sea buckthorn is a powerful shrub with thorny branches, which is planted for its sour, bright orange berries. It can grow up to 6m tall if left unpruned. The branches also tend to grow and become tangled - it is difficult to harvest in such thickets, so sea buckthorn needs constant pruning.
We will tell you a step-by-step guide on how to do it in the fall, as well as the nuances of pruning in the article.
Why prune sea buckthorn in the fall?
Harvesting sea buckthorn berries is a painstaking process, which is difficult due to the height of the bush. One of the main tasks of pruning sea buckthorn in the fall is to form an open crown, reduce it, and facilitate access to the harvest.
The trimming functions are:
- maintains plant health;
- prevents diseases caused by thickening of branches;
- improves appearance;
- regulates productivity;
- extends lifespan.
What happens if you don't do this?
If pruning is not carried out in a timely manner, then, in addition to difficulties during harvesting, the overgrown sea buckthorn will look untidy and root growth will appear around the trunk. Without pruning, the plant will not receive enough light, so it will become sick and produce small berries.
Types of pruning
There are several types of pruning - let's look at each in more detail.
Formative
To give sea buckthorn the shape of a tree or bush, from the first year of life it is subjected to formative pruning, which is done annually throughout the life of the plant.
Regulatory pruning of sea buckthorn
Carried out annually, it keeps the crown neat and includes thinning and lightening.
Rejuvenating
Anti-aging pruning is necessary to restore fruiting of an aging bush and is carried out on adult plants older than seven years. Stimulates the growth of young healthy shoots.
Old non-fruit-bearing branches are replaced with lateral shoots. Select the strongest of them, growing on the outside of the bush, and replace up to three old branches with them.
Timing for pruning
Autumn pruning is carried out after harvesting, when the plant's sap flow slows down. Approximate timing: from the beginning of leaf fall to frost. Do it on a dry sunny day.
When pruning immediately after picking berries, you can notice diseased and dried out branches that do not bear fruit well, which are immediately removed. Abundantly fruiting shoots are also noted, on the basis of which further formation of the bush is carried out.
Attention! Keep an eye on sea buckthorn as the berries ripen. If you notice branches with lightening and falling fruits, cut them out immediately, otherwise the disease will spread and destroy the bush.
How to prune sea buckthorn correctly in autumn
Cut away excess growth at soil level. Carefully dig up and cut into a ring in the place where the shoots grow.
Attention! Sea buckthorn is sensitive to any violation of the root system and can dry out.
Gardeners make sure that the crown does not thicken. Dry, broken and very sagging branches are cut out first. If the crown remains poorly translucent, cut out some of the strong branches that cause thickening.
They cut out branches that have stopped growing and have begun to bear fruit worse. They are replaced with new ones based on strong, even top-like branches. The plant is rejuvenated gradually, several branches each year.
If the tree is severely damaged, cut it down to the roots and form a new one from the shoots. The strong roots of sea buckthorn remaining in the soil will allow the new tree to grow quickly and begin to bear fruit in the third year.
Required materials and tools
To carry out the procedure, you will need garden pruning shears for cutting thin branches, a garden saw for thicker branches and a garden knife for making oblique cuts. For a tall tree, you will need a lopper and a stepladder.
Sea buckthorn wood is brittle, so high-quality tools that are pre-sharpened are used. Before pruning, tools are treated with a disinfectant solution to prevent infection.
Read also:
How to trim carrots for winter storage and why this is necessary.
Why do they prune onions when planting before winter and is it necessary to do so?
Scheme
The fall pruning scheme is quite simple. It doesn’t matter whether it is formed by a bush or a tree - in the fall, all damaged, diseased and dried branches are cut out.
From the seventh or ninth year, rejuvenating pruning is carried out, which will improve the crown and increase productivity. In this case, a complete replacement of skeletal branches is carried out once every few years.
Trimming instructions
Procedure:
- Remove all shoots growing inside the bush. They degrade lighting and may cause poor ventilation, which can lead to fungal infections and reduced productivity.
- Shorten the side shoots a little at a time, otherwise there will be no harvest next season - flower buds are laid on them.
- Cut old and diseased branches into rings (without stumps).
- Disinfect the sections with copper or iron sulfate.When the wound is dry, treat it with garden varnish or oil paint on drying oil. An alternative is the drugs “RanNet”, “Blago Sad”.
Sea buckthorn does not tolerate multiple pruning at once, since its cuts heal slowly due to the composition of the wood. Healing a large number of wounds may be beyond her capabilities.
How to form sea buckthorn
The shape does not affect fruiting and has a purely decorative function.
Depending on preferences, the plant is formed in two ways:
- Wood (on a trunk). A decorative way of forming sea buckthorn, allowing you to save space on the site. The plant grown in this way is durable and decorates the garden. Some varieties of sea buckthorn are genetically tree-like. These are tall plants, so the growth process is controlled by shortening the central trunk at the desired height and carrying out regulating pruning of the crown.
- Custom. The simplest form is that the three strongest shoots of a sea buckthorn seedling are left, and the rest are removed. The remaining skeletal branches are shortened to a height of about 25 cm from the soil surface. On rooted sea buckthorn, you can form shoots that grow from the root, shortening all shoots to a height of 20 cm from the soil.
In the future, caring for the formed tree or bush consists of maintaining the resulting shape and light transmission of the crown.
Features of the sea buckthorn pruning procedure depending on the region
The main thing in autumn pruning is to do it 2-3 weeks before frost, so that the plant has time to prepare for winter. In northern regions with harsh winters in the fall, it is advisable to carry out only sanitary pruning, removing damaged and diseased branches if necessary.
It is better to postpone other types of pruning until spring, so as not to weaken the plant before winter frosts.
Is it possible to prune the top of the tree?
Sea buckthorn grows rapidly upward, so the top is cut off several times during the life of the tree.
In the first year, to form a bush, the top is removed, leaving 5 buds. Starting from the fourth year of sea buckthorn growth, in order to reduce height growth, the upper part is cut annually to the height of a three-year-old tree.
This is interesting. You can form a low, compact crown without trimming the top. To do this, bend the top of the young sea buckthorn to the ground and fix it in this position. Over time, dormant buds along the length of the bent trunk will awaken, shoots will grow from them, forming a lush crown.
Is it possible to trim branches with berries?
You cannot prune sea buckthorn branches along with the berries that ripen on them, unless you are removing them because of a plant disease. Otherwise, you may be left without a harvest next season.
Important! Since flower buds are formed on the current year’s growth, sea buckthorn will bear fruit on last year’s growth.
Care after pruning
Sea buckthorn is a plant that is not too demanding to care for. If the pruning is done according to the rules and the cuts are processed, it is enough to whitewash the trunk with lime and add fertilizer - 35 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate per 12 liters of water. In spring, sea buckthorn is fed with organic matter: 0.5 buckets of rotted manure per 1 m².
This is interesting:
Instructions for pruning chokeberry in the fall.
Why do you need to prune grapes in the fall and how to do it correctly.
How to properly prune an apricot in the fall and why it is needed.
Conclusion
Autumn pruning of sea buckthorn is a responsible and time-consuming task.But this procedure is necessary for the plant to be healthy and bear fruit abundantly. A beautifully formed sea buckthorn bush, covered with bright orange berries, will decorate the site.
If you form sea buckthorn correctly, it will delight you with a rich harvest of healthy berries and a pleasant appearance.