| LOL!! Pruning is never a requirement unless there are obvious structural deficiencies that need to be overcome. And if that's the case, ignoring them for 4 years may be too late to produce good results going forward. Without a photo of the tree in question to give you more specific advice, you should just observe the 3D's - removal of dead, diseased or damaged wood and any conflicting/crossing branches if they exist. When in doubt, I'd err on the side of very light pruning.....I've grown a good number of JM's, most of which have received minimal pruning throughout their lifetime other than the very early removal of any substandard branching. In general, they just do not require a great deal of pruning. Japanese maples tend to have their sap flowing quite early in the season - like now - and will bleed heavily if pruned when this is happening. It tends not to be a big deal for the tree but can freak out gardeners who are not used to it. A better time to prune JM's is in summer, when you can look up into the canopy to see where thinning should take place and dead wood is extremely obvious. |
