A lot of house garden enthusiasts in a Mediterranean climate associate winter with the annual pruning of trees and shrubs. They see a few of the woody plants from leaf and half remembering that plants ought to be pruned when in their dormancy, rush out with the saw, loppers and secateurs for an excellent session.

Timing is in truth vital when it comes to pruning, and for that reason it is vital to understand the connection in between the weather conditions prevailing in a Mediterranean type winter, and the effect that pruning has on the health and vitality of the bushes and trees. When both these specifications are assembled, it ends up being clear that pruning needs to be put-off till completion of the winter season.

Mediterranean environment winter seasons are cool and typically mild with routine rainstorms coincident with relatively cold snaps. In the hilly regions, or in valley bottoms, temperature level lows might reach down to -6 c, conditions, which while precluding lots of cold-sensitive species, are favorable to deciduous plants such as grape vines or roses. Typically though, extended periods of warm, dry weather are common, with temperatures settling around 18-20c or more, just for cold snaps to return later in the winter.

It is this rotating in between warm and cold that is liable to cause issues. The reason is that pruning causes inactive buds to grow, and soft, tender, juvenile growth to develop, only for this development to be hammered by a late frost. Damage to the young tissue is not only a source of fungal and bacterial infection, it likewise implies that the plant has squandered important energy that it can not quickly recover.

On the other hand though, it tree removal service is best to prune deciduous trees and bushes during their inactivity, because pruning in the spring, triggers the plant tissue to "bleed" the sap that is increasing at this time; resulting in severe loss in nutrients and energy capacity.

Pruning can be hence be timed to 5-6 weeks prior to the last frost is likely to occur, which is the approximate time scale for brand-new growth to grow from a pruning cut. So if in your area, frosts do not take place after the middle of March, it is safe to prune around the beginning of February.

The mild winter seasons in many Mediterranean type areas, enable the garden enthusiast to grow lots of tropical and sub-tropical species that are limited in regards to their strength to cold. A few of these lose their foliage when the temperatures drop, however this does not mean that they respond to cold conditions like naturally deciduous plants. (i.e. types that originate from cold-temperate climates) On the contrary, as they have the tendency to be especially vulnerable to cold, they should be regarded, when it concerns pruning, as evergreens.