Heavy Hawthorne pruning

bas533 · Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:22 am

I have several hawthorne trees standing approx 6ft high which are in very poor condition. I'd like to prune back to the trunk and start again, is this possible or will it destroy the tree..?

JONA878 · Mon Nov 30, 2009 11:23 am

Hawthorn can be cut back very severly with safety.
It is one of the best trees used in hedge layering because of its ability to take hard pruning and training.

Jona.

bullthistle · Mon Nov 30, 2009 2:11 pm

You say they are in poor condition so what would pruning do for them? I would suggest digging a trench around the root balls and adding either compost or cow manure, after prinning, because it seems the ground doesn't have much nourishment then adding a general type of fertilizer in the spring. Cutting the top without doing anything with the bottom will not not solve your problem.