Pruning

Pruning is the selective removal of branches, shoots, buds, or roots to shape plant growth, maintain health, or influence flowering and fruiting.

Apical dominance: A plant-growth pattern in which the shoot tip suppresses the growth of nearby lateral buds. Removing a shoot tip can release lateral buds and redirect growth.
Fruit tree pruning: The selective cutting of fruit trees to manage structure, light exposure, and fruit production. Its cuts balance a stable framework with productive growth.
Topping: The indiscriminate cutting back of a tree's upper branches to stubs or lateral branches too small to assume their roles. Unlike sound pruning, topping can leave large wounds and trigger weak shoots.
Meristem: Plant tissue containing cells that divide and generate new growth. Meristems produce the shoots and roots that pruning can remove or redirect.
Tree risk assessment: The evaluation of a tree's likelihood of failure and the consequences of that failure. Risk assessment helps determine whether pruning is warranted and which branches to address.
Plant hormone: A signaling molecule produced by plants that regulates growth, development, or responses to environmental conditions. Auxin and other hormones help explain why removing plant tissue changes growth.
Espalier: A method of training woody plants into a flat, often geometric form against a support. Repeated pruning and training maintain its compact, planar shape.
Shearing: The clipping of many plant shoots to create a uniform surface or shape. Shearing shapes a surface broadly; pruning selects particular stems or branches.
Bud: An undeveloped shoot or flower containing growing points enclosed by protective structures. Bud position helps determine where growth resumes after a cut.
Compartmentalization of decay in trees: The process by which trees limit the spread of decay and discoloration after wounding. A tree's ability to contain decay affects the long-term cost of large cuts.

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