I’m kind of embarrassed to be asking this since it’s such basic knowledge but…
Pruning instructions say to cut shoots/branches that are more than X years old. Such as with blueberries.
How do I tell how old a branch is? I’m talking more about bushes than trees.
I know how stupid it is to ask this but I put off pruning because I don’t know how to tell a shoot’s age.
Thanks
you can start at the tip of the branch and count backwards
This blueberry branch has had at least five growth flushes
That’s helpful. Thank you
growth flushes don’t match years exactly because a blueberry bush can have from one to three growth flushes per year
Crap. Then how do I know how old a branch is? All the pruning instructions rely on that knowledge
If you haven’t had the plant for a couple years, and it’s reached full size already, you probably don’t need to renewal prune it yet. If it’s mature already, then you can just cut some of the oldest looking branches, that are becoming less productive, off while dormant.
Basically when they become less productive. You’re overthinking it
so far i havent had to worry about branch age. anything thats stiff get broken when the snow melts here so i dont need to do much pruning. the snow does it for me. it also limits the size my bushes get unfortunitely.
