A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Best time for pruning trees?

My daughter has a smallish ornamental tree in front of her new house (about 10-15') that could use a bit of pruning, and she asked me when would be the best time to do it. I tentatively said fall to her, but let's face it, I don't know much about trees and their care!

She doesn't want to do anything to the tree right now though, since there's a robin's nest in it and Mrs.Robin is sitting on her eggs.

What kind of tree is it??????

I also have the same question, except for my trees are just new ones I planted last fall. Most of them have completely filled out with leaves, but there are a few that have small dead limbs, or should I say twigs. Since they are still baby trees, should I prune these dead limbs, or leave them be and see what happens next year? We planted chokecherry, burning bushes, and a couple varieties of dogwoods. None of our trees are over 5' tall.

I've always heard that you can prune spring-flowering shrubs right after they bloom, but for fall-blooming ones, wait until late winter or early spring.

I wonder if that's the same for trees. I don't know. I always prune my trees in late winter, so that bugs won't take advantage of the open cuts in the bark and move in. It's also easier in winter (for deciduous leafy trees) because there are no leaves blocking your view of the limbs. I only prune a tree in summer if it has broken limbs from weather or other accidental breakage. Then I trim off the branch where it comes out of the trunk, leaving a collar which is supposed to close over the hole, more or less.