Pruning Key Terms
Apical Bud: A growing point located at the tip of a plant stem that is responsible for primary growth or vertical growth.
Apical Dominance: A plant phenomenon where the main shoot of a plant inhibits the growth of the other shoots.
Auxin: A plant hormone which causes the elongation of cells in shoots and is involved in regulating plant growth.
Branch Angle: The angle between a branch and its stem.
Bud: A compact growth on a plant that develops into a leaf, flower, or shoot.
Callus: A soft tissue that forms over a wound or cut on a plant's surface as a part of the healing process.
Candle: On pine trees, the upright buds that grow in clusters at the tips of branches in springtime.
Cane: A slender, flexible, hollow or pithy stem with joints (as in reed or bamboo). It can also refer to an elongated flowering or fruiting stem, such as the stem of a rose or a branch on a berry plant.
Canopy: The above-ground portion of a plant or crop.
Cladoptosis: The natural, regular shedding of branches.
Crossing Branches: Branches on a tree that are growing in a way that they are touching or rubbing against each other.
Crown: The total of an individual plant's above-ground parts, including stems, leaves, and reproductive structures.
Cytokinins: Any number of plant hormones that influence growth and the stimulation of cell division and differentiation.
Dead Wood: A branch or other part of a tree or shrub that is dead.
Deadheading: The process of removing dead flower heads from a plant to encourage further blooming.
Deciduous: The quality of trees and shrubs that shed all leaves annually at the end of the growing season.
Dormancy: A period of arrested growth in plants that helps them to survive in harsh conditions, such as cold weather, dry seasons, or water shortages.
Evergreen: The quality of a plant that retains its foliage through the year and into the following season.
Foliage: The aggregate of leaves of one or more plants.
Formal Hedge: A row of identical plants, closely clipped or sheared so they take the form of a single large plant.
Hand Pruners: A hand-held garden tool used for cutting off the branches of trees and bushes.
Hedge Shears: A hand-held garden tool used to trim and shape bushes, shrubs, and decorative grasses.
Herbaceous Plant: Any vascular plant that does not have true woody tissues.
Informal Hedge: A line of shrubs that are allowed to keep a more natural form.
Latent Bud: A dormant bud that can remain concealed and may develop into a shoot under certain conditions.
Lateral Branch: Any branch that grows from the trunk of a tree or along the length of any other branch.
Lateral Bud: An embryonic shoot located in the axil of a leaf or branch.
Leader: A term used to describe a main, usually central, stem of a tree or large shrub.
Live Wood: Wood on a tree or shrub that is alive.
Lopping Shears: Handheld pruning shears made with long handles used to cut small branches and twigs from trees and shrubs.
New Wood: Stems that grow on a plant from the current season.
Old Wood: Stem growth that is more than one season old.
Pathogens: Certain microorganisms that can cause disease in plants.
Perennial: A plant that can live for more than two years, and usually has new growth that comes from a part of the plant that survives from one growing season to the next.
Photosynthate: A sugar or other substance made during the process of photosynthesis.
Pinching: A pruning technique that involves removing a plant's growing tip(s) to encourage branching and produce more flowers and fruits.
Pruning: The removal of plant parts, including branches, buds, leaves, blooms, and roots, to improve its health and appearance.
Pruning Saw: A tool with sharp teeth used to cut branches and stems on larger trees and shrubs.
Root Pruning: The action of pruning the roots of woody plants in order to control growth, improve health, develop a mass of small fibrous roots, or induce flowering and fruiting.
Selective Pruning: A gardening technique that involves removing specific branches to improve a plant's structure and appearance.
Shaping: The horticultural practice of pruning to create specific forms in plants, such as trees or shrubs.
Shearing: A technique that involves removing the outer layer of growth from a plant to improve its shape.
Shoot: The part of a plant that grows above-ground and includes the stem, leaves, buds, and flowers.
Snips: A type of hand-held gardening tool that are a cross between scissors and secateurs.
Suckers: New shoots or stems that grow from the base of a plant or from its root system.
Water Sprouts: Vigorous, usually upright shoots developing from dormant buds on the trunk or large branches of a tree.
Woody Plant: A plant that produces wood as its structural tissues and therefore has a hard stem.
Apical Dominance: A plant phenomenon where the main shoot of a plant inhibits the growth of the other shoots.
Auxin: A plant hormone which causes the elongation of cells in shoots and is involved in regulating plant growth.
Branch Angle: The angle between a branch and its stem.
Bud: A compact growth on a plant that develops into a leaf, flower, or shoot.
Callus: A soft tissue that forms over a wound or cut on a plant's surface as a part of the healing process.
Candle: On pine trees, the upright buds that grow in clusters at the tips of branches in springtime.
Cane: A slender, flexible, hollow or pithy stem with joints (as in reed or bamboo). It can also refer to an elongated flowering or fruiting stem, such as the stem of a rose or a branch on a berry plant.
Canopy: The above-ground portion of a plant or crop.
Cladoptosis: The natural, regular shedding of branches.
Crossing Branches: Branches on a tree that are growing in a way that they are touching or rubbing against each other.
Crown: The total of an individual plant's above-ground parts, including stems, leaves, and reproductive structures.
Cytokinins: Any number of plant hormones that influence growth and the stimulation of cell division and differentiation.
Dead Wood: A branch or other part of a tree or shrub that is dead.
Deadheading: The process of removing dead flower heads from a plant to encourage further blooming.
Deciduous: The quality of trees and shrubs that shed all leaves annually at the end of the growing season.
Dormancy: A period of arrested growth in plants that helps them to survive in harsh conditions, such as cold weather, dry seasons, or water shortages.
Evergreen: The quality of a plant that retains its foliage through the year and into the following season.
Foliage: The aggregate of leaves of one or more plants.
Formal Hedge: A row of identical plants, closely clipped or sheared so they take the form of a single large plant.
Hand Pruners: A hand-held garden tool used for cutting off the branches of trees and bushes.
Hedge Shears: A hand-held garden tool used to trim and shape bushes, shrubs, and decorative grasses.
Herbaceous Plant: Any vascular plant that does not have true woody tissues.
Informal Hedge: A line of shrubs that are allowed to keep a more natural form.
Latent Bud: A dormant bud that can remain concealed and may develop into a shoot under certain conditions.
Lateral Branch: Any branch that grows from the trunk of a tree or along the length of any other branch.
Lateral Bud: An embryonic shoot located in the axil of a leaf or branch.
Leader: A term used to describe a main, usually central, stem of a tree or large shrub.
Live Wood: Wood on a tree or shrub that is alive.
Lopping Shears: Handheld pruning shears made with long handles used to cut small branches and twigs from trees and shrubs.
New Wood: Stems that grow on a plant from the current season.
Old Wood: Stem growth that is more than one season old.
Pathogens: Certain microorganisms that can cause disease in plants.
Perennial: A plant that can live for more than two years, and usually has new growth that comes from a part of the plant that survives from one growing season to the next.
Photosynthate: A sugar or other substance made during the process of photosynthesis.
Pinching: A pruning technique that involves removing a plant's growing tip(s) to encourage branching and produce more flowers and fruits.
Pruning: The removal of plant parts, including branches, buds, leaves, blooms, and roots, to improve its health and appearance.
Pruning Saw: A tool with sharp teeth used to cut branches and stems on larger trees and shrubs.
Root Pruning: The action of pruning the roots of woody plants in order to control growth, improve health, develop a mass of small fibrous roots, or induce flowering and fruiting.
Selective Pruning: A gardening technique that involves removing specific branches to improve a plant's structure and appearance.
Shaping: The horticultural practice of pruning to create specific forms in plants, such as trees or shrubs.
Shearing: A technique that involves removing the outer layer of growth from a plant to improve its shape.
Shoot: The part of a plant that grows above-ground and includes the stem, leaves, buds, and flowers.
Snips: A type of hand-held gardening tool that are a cross between scissors and secateurs.
Suckers: New shoots or stems that grow from the base of a plant or from its root system.
Water Sprouts: Vigorous, usually upright shoots developing from dormant buds on the trunk or large branches of a tree.
Woody Plant: A plant that produces wood as its structural tissues and therefore has a hard stem.
