Gardening tips: What is the difference between trimming and pruning of plants?

Thinking of growing plants in your balcony? Gardening can be extremely challenging if one is doing it for the first time. Before you think of setting up an apartment garden at your place, take cues from these gardening tips that will come in handy. And once your garden is set, you also need to follow a few steps to keep the plants healthy and alive.

Watering regularly being an essential step, trimming and pruning of plants are also one of the important steps to keep your garden groomed. However, apartment gardeners usually tend to get confused between the two techniques. Having said that, check out the difference between trimming and pruning.   

Trimming 

Gardners need to trim the plant to ensure perfect growth of the shrub or hedge. Trimming is performed to tidy up a small shrub or hedge's appearance by removing overgrown branches. Meanwhile, pruning moreover focuses on the plant's health and safety. However, overgrowth is harmful since it reduces the amount of moisture and light a shrub receives. So, it is necessary to trim a shrub at least twice per year to prevent this from happening. 

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Pruning 

Pruning is done to keep the plants healthy and safe. The process to prune a plant is carried out to prevent loose or dead branches from harming other plants or people. It also allows the plant to flourish more. Every apartment gardner should learn how to prune a plant to keep them in a particular shape for aesthetic purposes. 

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The types of equipment used

To prune your plant, you need two types of shears, hand shears and lopping shears. Hand shears are used to remove buds and leaves, whereas, lopping shears are used to cut thick branches. If a branch is too thick for both the shears, gardeners also use saws for pruning. However, there are least chances to use one for apartment gardening.

Both the shears are also viable options for trimming shrubs and hedges. For trimming the hedges of plants, a hedge trimmer is used. Electric and gas-powered hedge trimmers are available.

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Time and frequency 

The time and frequency to trim and prune a plant vary among plant species. In normal cases, tree trimming service is performed twice in a year while pruning is done annually. According to the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, gardeners should trim their hedges before excessive branch growth reaches one foot. 

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