Pomegranate Hard Pruning

Apex37

Chumono
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I got this dwarf pomegranate about a month back and it was a bit past repotting time here. We’re getting into summer here in Texas and now looking into hard pruning this guy cause he’s a mess.

Can I safely hard prune this guy now?

I’m thinking about cutting back to either the red or blue line, leaning more toward to red for better taper. This is my first time with a pomegranate so not sure on how well they respond to summer prunings or if it would be better to wait till end of summer/beginning of fall.
 

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p_anova

Mame
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To me, that seems like a lot of tree to take off at one time. I got one of these as well but much smaller. After the foliage hardens off, I would take the shoots back to 3 leaves but not hard prune. The rationale being the extra foliage will help with the repot next Spring.

"If you do want to hard prune, early Summer May to early June, after flush hardens off, is the best time to do hard pruning. Never in winter! Will not heal. Seal up with cut paste." - Notes I got for decidious trees.
 

Apex37

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To me, that seems like a lot of tree to take off at one time. I got one of these as well but much smaller. After the foliage hardens off, I would take the shoots back to 3 leaves but not hard prune. The rationale being the extra foliage will help with the repot next Spring.

"If you do want to hard prune, early Summer May to early June, after flush hardens off, is the best time to do hard pruning. Never in winter! Will not heal. Seal up with cut paste." - Notes I got for decidious trees.
What was your experience with hard pruning dwarf pomegranate?
 

p_anova

Mame
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I did my hard prune in early Spring and it kept on growing with no problem. I did remove all of the fruit and flowers so it could recover. I have never done a hard prune this late into Spring so I am not sure about that.
 

Joe Dupre'

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My inclination would be to pull those two bottom branches down with some heavy wire and start my taper above that. The second branch would need to be pruned back and let the bottom branch grow to get it a bit bigger. My second choice would be to cut at the blue line.
 

p_anova

Mame
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I’m aware letting it grow will increase trunk girth.

I just wanted to know about hard pruning this species in summer.
Honestly, I think a hard prune in Summer would be ok after everything hardens off. Your tree looks vigorous and should be fine. I would not reduce the foliage or wire the remaining branches until the end of Autumn after the next push of growth.
 
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