Editing Pruning (section)

{{short description|Selective removal of parts of a plant}}
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[[File:The Employment of Women in Britain, 1914-1918 Q30959.jpg|thumb|Two workers pruning [[street tree]]s in London during [[World War I|World War&nbsp;I]]]]

'''Pruning''' is the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as [[branch]]es, [[bud]]s, or [[root]]s.
It is practiced in [[horticulture]] (especially [[fruit tree pruning]]), [[arboriculture]], and [[silviculture]].

The practice entails the targeted removal of [[plant pathology|diseased]], damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted [[Tissue (biology)|plant material]] from [[crop]] and [[landscape plant]]s. In general, the smaller the branch that is cut, the easier it is for a [[woody plant]] to [[CODIT|compartmentalize]] the wound and thus limit the potential for [[pathogen]] intrusion and [[Decomposition|decay]]. It is therefore preferable to make any necessary formative structural pruning cuts to young plants, rather than removing large, poorly placed branches from mature plants.

Woody plants may undergo a process referred to as ''self-pruning'', where they will drop twigs or branches which are no longer producing more energy than they require. It is theorized that this process can also occur in response to lack of water, in order to reduce the surface area where water can be lost.<ref>{{Cite web |last=BCMA |first=Jeremiah_Sandler |date=2021-02-01 |title=On Removing Deadwood, Part 1 |url=https://tcimag.tcia.org/training/on-removing-deadwood-part-1/ |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=Tree Care Industry Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> This natural shedding of branches is called ''[[cladoptosis]]''.

Specialized pruning practices may be applied to certain plants, such as [[Rose#Pruning|roses]], [[fruit tree pruning|fruit trees]], and [[Viticulture#Pruning|grapevines]]. Different pruning techniques may be used on herbaceous plants than those used on perennial woody plants.

Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping (by controlling or redirecting growth), improving or sustaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing [[plant nursery|nursery]] specimens for [[transplanting]], and both [[harvest]]ing and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.