Many tree owners still have a lot of questions about pruning. For instance, does pruning promote growth, or does it only enhance the tree’s beauty and structural integrity? How does cutting off branches and leaves result in a tree’s vigorous growth?
In this article, Orlando’s tree trimming experts will explain the role pruning plays in enhancing plant growth.
How Does Pruning Promote Growth?
Successful pruning can significantly enhance your tree’s growth. Depending on the type of pruning, you can control not only your tree’s shape but also its production.
Here’s how this crucial part of tree maintenance promotes plant growth.
Stimulates the Growth of Younger Shoots
Every tree has different shoot tips that influence each other in various ways. Unfortunately, the tree’s main shoots often inhibit the growth of younger ones.
Pruning these shoots helps you stimulate the growth of inhibited, younger shoots.
Increases the Uptake of Nutrients and Water
Another way pruning promotes your tree’s growth is by reducing the size of the tree’s above-ground part. Doing so leaves the tree’s root system with fewer shoots and buds to support.
As a result, this significantly increases the uptake of nutrients and water by the remaining buds and shoots, causing re-growth.
Triggers Growth Hormones
Every plant has small portions of tissue called meristems that are responsible for its growth. There are three types of meristems, including:
- Apical meristem – This meristem is located at the tip of a trunk, stem, root, or branch and is responsible for the tree growing taller, deeper, or wider.
- Lateral meristem – Found in a stem’s, root’s, or branch’s outer tissue, the lateral meristem is responsible for a plant’s thickness.
- Intercalary meristem – These meristems are often found in grasses and are why you can mow and regrow grass from its base.
How does pruning promote growth? It can trigger specific hormones to send messages to various meristems, causing them to grow new plant material.
For example, your tree’s apical meristem releases hormones that cause the tip of a branch or trunk to grow longer. Cutting off the apical meristem will stop the hormone from flowing. As a result, this can trigger the nodes along the branch or stem to grow, adding length or height.
Destroys Apical Dominance
When a seed is growing into a tree, only one point of the plant grows; this part is known as the apex bud.
A tree’s apex bud will continue growing, producing auxin and inhibiting the development of lateral buds. We refer to this phenomenon as apical dominance.
Fortunately, pruning your tree prevents apical dominance, leaving lateral buds to grow into shoots.
Professional Tree Pruning Services in Orlando, FL
Does pruning promote growth? The short answer is yes; however, the process is not as straightforward as it might seem. You need to know how to prune, the good time to trim tree branches, and how to avoid over-pruning.
Fortunately, Tree Doctors of America is here to help. Call us today at (386) 463-4975 to schedule your service and get the professional assistance you need.