Do You Use a Pruning Language?

Have you ever read a book about pruning that told you to Find the Good? Im not sure that I have. Most education about pruning small trees and shrubs in the garden focus on the techniques of how to make a good cut, what kinds of branches to remove or answer questions about timing. All of this is important information but often leaves us scratching our head when we get outside to the trees and shrubs and the situation doesn’t seem to match up with the instructions.

Most of us have heard of the 3D’s. Remove Dead, Diseased and Damaged wood first. Its a catchy phrase and one that is easy to remember and repeat. I have been exploring other phrases and concepts that are easy to remember and repeat for a talk I will be presenting at the NAJGA International Conference in October. Phrases that help us take what we know about pruning biology and implement it in ways that helps us achieve our pruning goals.

The phrase “Find the Good” is one that Dennis Makishima developed and the APA includes in the Aesthetic Pruning Guide. The definition begins with “Focus on what is best about the plant and accentuate it.” and ends with “The goal is not to remove the bad, but to emphasize and enhance the good.”

I have found this to be one of the most difficult tasks for my students to implement, especially throughout the entire pruning session. Not because they don’t see beauty in the tree but because they are so programed to “fix” it.

For example, a tree that is too thick and crowded needs to be “fixed” by opening it up and removing interior branches.

Looking at the same tree through the lens of “Find the Good” has you identifying the branches you like the best before you start pruning so they don’t accidentally get removed as you open the tree up. If there are crossing branches, Find the Good has you identifying which of the crossing branches are the best ones for the future of the tree. Sometimes the answer is simple and sometimes it is a multi question process that takes into account the long term goal of a tree. For task pruners the 3D’s are perfect, but for aesthetic pruners working with trees in urban conditions or trying to achieve a garden composition the 3D’s just don’t answer enough questions.

I include “Find the Good” in my course Pruning Decisions with a Plan because it is one of my favorite concepts to help me make pruning decisions. It will be included with other Aesthetic Pruning vocabulary in my presentation to NAJGA as well as phrases commonly found in Japanese garden pruning with the goal of encouraging horticulture teams to find a common pruning language they can use to create a cohesive pruning lexicon.

I know how easy it is to come up with my own phrases that make perfect sense to me. Just the other day I told a client their shrub looked more “tucked in” after I pruned it. What does that even mean?? It made sense at the time but if I gave directions to someone to ‘tuck in” that shrub they would have no idea what I wanted! Does the shrub have a favorite blanket? If I told them to make an informal rounded mound, they could proceed without a doubt and I bet you could too. No blanket required.

On My Mind

On-demand course: Pruning Decisions with a Plan

As a subscriber to this newsletter you get 30% off the course! Use the code EMAILSPECIAL

For more information on the Aesthetic Pruners Association click here and for the Aesthetic Pruning Guide click here.

An Illustrated Guide to Pruning 3rd Edition, By Edward F. Gilman

Gilman even has some wonderful free videos online through the University of Florida. https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/instructional-videos.shtml

This is one of my go-to book reference books.

Going ons

Conference

Save the date for the North America Japanese Garden Association 7th International Japanese Garden conference  October 15-18, 2025 in St. Louis, MO. It will be hosted by the Missouri Botanic Garden. I have been to each conference since the first at the Denver Botanic garden in 2012. Each one has been full of unique presentations, beautiful gardens, and amazing people who are generous with their knowledge and enthusiasm.

https://najga.org/events/international-japanese-garden-conferencesave-the-date-october-15-18-2025-2/

Newsletter Archives

As a subscriber to the newsletter you have access to all past issues. Click Here to go to the newsletter archives.

FYI, Your privacy is important to me. Your email address is kept secure through my mailing list software provided by Kajabi. Your information will never be sold to anyone and you can unsubscribe from this newsletter anytime simply by clicking UNSUBSCRIBE at the bottom of this email.