Dormant Season Wisdom: Pruning with Purpose
January 2026 blog
by: Mitchell Nesbitt, Nursery Manager
As the air cools and the last of the leaves fall, the edges of our landscapes begin to reveal their true structure. December is a month of quiet preparation—a pause in the growing season where nature invites us to look more closely, plan more wisely, and act with intention. At Helping Nature Heal, we view this as the beginning of transformation. It’s pruning time.
Tuning Into the Landscape’s Rhythm
December through February may feel like sleepy months, but in truth, it’s a time of powerful transition. Dormancy doesn’t mean dead—it means the energy has gone underground, into roots, preparing for spring. In this stillness, we can see the bones of the land: the branches without leaves, the plant shapes unmasked. It’s the ideal time to shape, refine, and redirect that latent energy.
Whether you’re tending fruit trees, native shrubs, or overgrown ornamental hedges, this is the moment to step back and observe their form. What has grown too tall? What has started to lean? What is crossing, rubbing, diseased, or dead? These are the questions winter helps us answer.
✂️ Pruning with Purpose
Pruning isn’t just about cutting back—it’s about understanding plant behaviour, health, and your goals for the future. The team at Helping Nature Heal follows a set of clear priorities when cutting:
- Remove dead, dying, and diseased wood, including water sprouts, vertical shoots, and crossing limbs.
- Enhance aesthetics and plant health by opening light and air pathways.
- Regenerate fruiting spurs and encourage horizontal growth, particularly on food-bearing trees.
🌿 In fruit and nut trees, vertical limbs don’t produce well. By cutting back these leaders, the tree is encouraged to grow outward, which helps balance the canopy and increase productivity.
🪵 Don’t Waste Your Cuttings
Even a moderate pruning job can generate surprising amounts of organic materials. We recommend placing a tarp beneath the working area to collect clippings. Don’t toss the material—use it!
At Helping Nature Heal, we incorporate pruning debris into:
- Brush walls
- Compost piles
- Wildlife habitat features
- Design elements like benches and edges of pathways and trails
Leaving some materials on site allows nutrients to return to the landscape.
🛠️ Tools, Technique, and Mindset
Quality pruning starts with sharp, clean tools and a calm, focused approach. Our team uses:
- Hand pruners: for shoots and limbs under thumb thickness
- Loppers: for limbs up to wrist size
- Pole pruners: for high branches within reach from the ground
- Hand saws: for larger cuts (wrist to leg size)
Ladders and climbing? Only with fall protection and a two-person team.
When pruning:
- Cut just above an outward-facing bud, about 4” from the last cut
- Choose a wide-angle crotch (10 o’clock and 2 o’clock), not narrow ones prone to splitting
- Always prune in the direction you want growth to spread
🍁 Shaping Over Seasons
Don’t try to do it all at once. When a tree has grown wild or imbalanced—especially older specimens—it can take years to bring it back into harmony. Plan pruning over 3–5 years to gradually shape a healthy form.
⚠️ Branches over one-third the size of the main trunk should never be removed in one go. Instead, take stock from multiple angles, remove the worst offenders, and return in future years. This prevents shock and reduces stress on the tree.
🌸 Native Plants and Winter Cuts
Many of our native shrubs benefit from light shaping. Smooth serviceberry, chokecherry, red-osier dogwood, and highbush cranberry all respond well to dormant-season pruning.
Focus on removing weak or crossing branches and creating an open structure that allows snow to settle without damage.
Be gentle. Native plants evolved with seasonal pressures, and heavy cutting isn’t always appropriate.
If you’re unsure what to prune, what to leave, or how to plan for long-term structure, you’re not alone. Helping Nature Heal offers hands-on mentorship, seasonal consultations, and for those looking to deepen their practice, our Ecological Restoration course explores these skills in greater depth. From plant physiology to ecosystem-based design, the course invites you to connect more fully with the land—and to restore it with knowledge and care.
🌌 The Emotional Side of Pruning
There is something deeply satisfying—even meditative—about pruning. The quiet of winter, the clean slice of a well-placed cut, the clarity it brings to the landscape… these are moments to savour. At Helping Nature Heal, we believe land care is self-care.
As you prune, you aren’t just managing branches. You’re participating in a seasonal ritual of renewal, guidance, and grace. You’re shaping what will bloom, fruit, and flourish in the seasons to come.
So, sharpen your shears, layer up, and step outside. Winter is waiting.
📸 Follow us on social media for pruning tips, before-and-after photos, and team updates throughout the dormant season.
📩 Want help? Reach out—we’re here to support your pruning practice, big or small.