You may have heard that pruning spruce trees in the landscape is an important way of maintaining their health, size, shape, and vigor. But this is more applicable to deciduous trees than evergreens.

Shrubs and trees can be pruned to improve structure, maximize blooms and/or fruit production, or to remove damaged or diseased branches. Such branches should be removed as soon as possible. They ...

There’s an old saying in pruning: “Prune until it hurts, and then prune some more.” The advice helps overcome our fear of cutting away too many branches. Other pruning adages are less useful. “When in ...