Is this a good time to prune my trees and shrubs or should I wait until they have made all their growth?
Certain kinds of pruning are best done in early summer. You will want to continue to prune old blooms on roses to stimulate new flower production. Now is the best time to remove water sprouts from fruit and other trees. Spring flowering shrubs should be pruned before they set new flower buds in late summer.
Roses: It is important to prune at the best place to get strong new growth and good sized flowers on hybrid tea (cut flower) roses. Prune just above a 5 leaflet leaf to get strong regrowth. I also like to remove stems that are smaller than pencil size on hybrid tea roses. Smaller stems can remain on floribunda and shrub roses.
Fruit trees: June is a critical time to remove those fast growing vertical sprouts that occur after fruit trees are pruned in the fall, winter or early spring. Sprouts can be quickly and easily snapped off with your fingers when they are soft and flexible. Snapping is preferable to cutting, because it removes tissue that can regrow another water sprout, sometimes in the same growing season. If you wait until fall or winter to remove those sprouts, new ones will grow to replace them next spring. Stop the sprout cycle now. And if you do happen to have more new water sprouts later, snap them off while they are young and soft.
