New garden - pruning trees

[jobnockey]

Hi all, i have a new house/garden so no doubt will be popping on here for advice a lot over the next few months as i try to make it my own, (the garden will be a bit of a long term project I think).

First question though, is there any advice re: tree pruning? i've read contradicting advice about best time to prune - or does it depend on species?
Theres a large hazel tree in one over grown area and I was hoping to take a few of the lower branches off to create some space. Should I wait until winter to do this?

We also have a small-ish what I think is a rowan tree. I'd prefer to keep this small as don't want any more big trees in the garden. it's currently about 2-3 m high, looks quite young. Can I just prune the branches back to make it a more roundy shape/smaller (scientific terminology)?

The garden is hedged in with forsythia but i think i should wait until next spring to prune this after it nexts flowers, is that correct?

I am more experienced with flowers than trees and shrubs and a bit scared of pruning in case i make any mistakes - don't want to be killing any trees!

I'd happily take lower branches of hazel out, take out the leader of the rowan to keep it from getting too high and cut the forsythia down to hedge high right now.

In fact I have a small chainsaw coming tomorrow which I will be taking to loads of different trees round my garden that are too low/high/wide etc.

Lower hazel branches: do them whenever

Rowan: as a very general rule, prune in summer to restrict growth and winter to promote it. Every banch you cut will trigger some of the buds lower down on that branch to start to grow so you get side branches off every branch you prune, if that makes sense?

Forsythia: persanally I wouldn't touch until after it flowers in spring. Otherwise, you'll be cutting down on the flowers you'll get.

A general rule of thumb when pruning shrubs and climbers is that if they are spring flowering then prune them immediately after flowering. If they flower later in the year, then you can prune them in the spring.

Hazel will be fine if it is chopped any old time, and yes you can prune rowan to keep it in shape. Don't do it every year though, or you'll never get any berries on it.

oh wow thank you all for the helpful replies - I love this board! And yay I get to use my new telescopic tree loppers straight away! (although now jealous of your chainsaw @AlisonDonut !

@DevilsVineBlues re: the rowan, there are some lower down branches coming of the trunk, can i just lop the whole thing off, will this still trigger new growth?

Kinda, yes.

There are hormones in the ends of the branches that drive growth and send messages back down the branch to suppress any growth lower down. When you chop the ends off those branches, the supression stops and lower back buds start to grow.

If you chop the whole branch off there are not any buds lower down on it to grow. BUT the tree has finite energy and if it's not putting it into growing that branch, it'll put it into growing others. So cutting anything off tends to promote growth somwehere Sometimes, that comes in the form of smaller branches starting out of the main truck, so keep an eye out for these if you don't want them.

p.s. rowan berries are poisonous to dogs (and cats - but they are not normally stupid enpugh to eat them!). Just in case you have a pet and didn't know this.

Oh god, thanks for this, I do have two cats... one of whom is quite stupid....

Yes to cutting off lower branches of rowan, technical term “crown lifting”. Do it in winter. Start by cutting about 6 inches from trunk. Cut from underneath first, so when branch is about to go it doesn’t rip off bark below the cut. Once you’ve got the main weight of the branch off, cut again just outside the “collar” where the branch joins the trunk.

Forsythia leave till just after flowering unless you don’t mind losing a year’s flowers.

Hazel is naturally a bush so will be hard to clear a trunk. Personally, I would wait till winter if you’re cutting anything needing a saw rather than loppers.

My mini chainsaw has arrived and I've already taken down one branch of our huge walnut. Just waiting for both batteries to recharge and then I'll be taking down a fair few others to lift the crown so that I can sit under it and get some shade.

Reported for spam in the link.

I wouldn’t use a landscaping company, I would go for a qualified arboriculturalist. Which is also what the Council would insist on if you were doing work on a tree with a preservation order.