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"  It&amp;#039;s spring \u2014 time to get outside and begin working on the garden! But before you pull on your gloves and grab your pruning shears, take a look at these 5 common gardening myths debunked. Myth #1: Prune as much as you can at one time and you won&amp;#039;t have to prune as often.  Reality: Severe pruning often stimulates lots of weak new branches to sprout. You&amp;#039;ll then need to thin out some of them (more pruning!). While it&amp;#039;s true that much of this weak growth breaks off or dies, you then have a big mess to clean up. Your best bet: Remove just a few branches every year. Myth #2: Seal a fresh cut or wound with pruning paint or sealer. Reality: Think of these as cosmetics for your tree \u2014 they merely hide the wound. But they also seal in moisture which can lead to rot in the wood, so it&amp;#039;s better to avoid using them. Myth #3: Prune a tree that&amp;#039;s struggling to survive. Reality: The tree will react to pruning by pushing out more growth which can weaken it further. You&amp;#039;re better off leaving it alone and letting the plant try to correct itself on its own. After awhile, if the tree begins putting out new growth, do some select pruning. Myth #4: &amp;quot;Top&amp;quot; a shade tree (cut off most of its limbs) to prevent storm damage. Reality: Tempting, but it&amp;#039;ll backfire. &amp;quot;Topping&amp;quot; makes a tree weaker and less resistant to wind. All of the dense new growth that follows topping prevents the wind from easily filtering through the branches, making it more likely that limbs will be snapped off. My advice: Judiciously thin a tree to reduce wind resistance. Myth #5: Pruning at the wrong time will kill a plant. Reality: On flowering shrubs like hydrangeas, you may lose the flowers for a year or two. And trees that have sap, such as birches or maples, will lose some sap if they&amp;#039;re pruned in the spring instead of the summer. Bottom line: They won&amp;#039;t die. So if you have to prune at the wrong time, perhaps because a tree was damaged in a storm, don&amp;#039;t fret, your baby will survive. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a23087/pruning-trees-spring-gardening/>