Often, gardeners approach pruning with trepidation. But it is not as difficult as it may seem.

Remember, not all shrubs need to be pruned (i.e., witch hazel), and certain shrubs, which will be identified later, should not be pruned this time of year. Shrubs are pruned to maintain or reduce size, rejuvenate growth or remove diseased, dead or damaged branches.

Deciduous shrubs are those that lose their leaves each winter. Evergreen shrubs maintain foliage all year and include yews and junipers.

Deciduous shrubs are placed into three groups:

Those that flower in the spring on wood produced last year.

Those that flower later in the year on current season's growth.

Those that may produce flowers, but those flowers are of little ornamental value.

Shrubs that flower in the spring should not be pruned until immediately after flowering. Though pruning earlier will not harm the health of the plant, the flowering display will be reduced or eliminated. Examples of these types of plants include forsythia, lilac and mock orange.

Shrubs that bloom on current season's growth or that do not produce ornamental flowers are best pruned in late winter to early spring. Examples include Rose-of-Sharon, pyracantha, Bumald spirea and Japanese spirea.

Pruning during the spring allows wounds to heal quickly without threat from insects or disease. There is no need to treat pruning cuts with paints or sealers. In fact, some of these products may retard healing.

There are three basic methods used in pruning shrubs: thinning, heading back and rejuvenating.

Thinning is used to thin out branches from a shrub that is too dense. It is accomplished by removing most of the inward growing twigs by either cutting them back to a larger branch or cutting them back to just above an outward-facing bud.

On multi-stemmed shrubs, the oldest canes may be completely removed. Heading back is done by removing the end of a branch by cutting it back to a bud and is used for either reducing height or keeping a shrub compact.

Branches are not cut back to a uniform height because this results in a "witches-broom" effect. Therefore do not give the entire shrub a "butch cut," opt instead to remove branches individually.

Rejuvenation is the most severe type of pruning and may be used on multi-stem shrubs that have become too large, with too many old branches to justify saving the younger canes. All stems are cut back to three- to five-inch stubs.

This is not recommended for all shrubs but does work well for spirea, forsythia, pyracantha, ninebark, Russian almond, little leaf mock orange, shrub roses and flowering quince.

Some fruit trees need pollinators

Fruit and nut trees must be pollinated before fruit will develop. If you are planning a fruit planting, check to see if the type of fruit plant you are buying requires a second variety as a source of pollen. It is important to understand that the different source of pollen is from a different variety, not a second plant or tree of the same variety.

For example, Jonathan apple cannot be pollinated by another Jonathan, but rather another variety such as Golden Delicious. Varieties of apples, sweet cherries, pears, Japanese plums, blueberries and elderberries generally need a second variety for a pollen source.

There are some exceptions such as Golden Delicious apple and Stella sweet cherry that are self-pollinating; therefore, one tree is sufficient. Apricot, tart or pie cherry, European plum, peach, nectarine, blackberry, raspberry, currant, gooseberry, grape and strawberry plants are all self-pollinating.

If you have only one fruit tree that requires a pollinator, you can still get fruit by using a bouquet of blossoms from another variety of the same species.

For example, suppose you have two pear trees that are different varieties but are too far apart for pollination. One of these pears is self-pollinating but the other isn't. Take prunings from the self-pollinating tree, place them in a container of water and hang them on the sunny side of the tree that needs a pollinator. The bees move from the flowers in the bouquet to the flowers in the tree and pollinate them.

The trees must be blooming at the same time, and the bouquet should be replaced every two or three days to keep the flowers fresh and the pollen viable.

Jim Hruskoci is a Hall County Extension specialist in horticulture.