How to Train Flowering Almond
- 1). Identify three to four key branches that are 3 feet away from the ground and that grow off of the main trunk of the flowering almond. These three or four limbs should remain untouched so that they can develop on the tree. Put on your gardening gloves and use gardening shears to cut away all of the other branches so that you can begin to shape (train) the shrub into a tree. In addition to training, cutting these non-essential limbs allows stored nutrients to go to the main branches so that damaged limbs do not deplete the supply, air flow continues and disease is prevented.
- 2). Insert a gardening stake into the ground next to the main trunk and tie the flowering almond to the stake using a tree tie or soft string. This attachment promotes new growth in an upright fashion.
- 3). Continue to prune away any branches that appear in the lower third of the trunk until the tree reaches the height you desire. Flowering almond trees can grow to be 10 to 12 feet high and wide.
- 4). Go back to the initial three to four key branches and clip these back 7 to 12 cm to allow for the side branches to develop and fill in the ideal "vase" shape of the flowering almond.
- 5). Tend your flowering almond regularly by cutting off any branches that develop on the trunk and by removing any deteriorated limbs.
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