Having a well-manicured landscape is important for many homeowners. Not only does a nice yard make your home more comfortable, but it can also contribute to the value of your home by adding curb appeal. Trees are commonly included in home landscapes, and these trees need regular maintenance in order to prevent them from becoming unruly. Pruning, when done correctly, can be an extremely effective tool for controlling the growth of your trees.

Here are three tips that you can use to help ensure your pruning practices are allowing you to achieve your landscaping goals.

1. Use pruning to increase flowering.

Many homeowners love the way their trees look when in full bloom. If you have flowering trees in your yard, you can easily use pruning techniques to increase the number of blooms that appear on the branches of these flowering trees each year.

If your trees bloom in the spring, then you should prune their branches right after the flowers begin to fade to encourage more blooms during the next flowering season. Trees that flower in the latter part of summer should be pruned right as winter ends to encourage maximum blooming potential.

2. Use pruning to correct defects.

Pruning can be an effective tool in helping you eliminate defective branches from your trees. In order to use pruning as a defect-control measure, you need to wait until the branches have fully developed their leaves before you prune.

By giving the branches a chance to fully develop their leaves, you will be able to easily see any branches that are sagging under the weight of the leaves or growing at an odd angle due to the weight of the leaves. These branches can then be removed through pruning to correct the defects in your tree.

3. Use pruning to control growth.

If you are worried that your trees will grow too large for your home's landscape, then you can use pruning to help control growth. This process is commonly referred to as dwarfing your tree. Pruning for dwarfing purposes should be completed right after the seasonal leaf growth is complete.

Removing branches that have already grown their leaves helps to reduce the total leaf surface area of the tree, reducing the number of nutrients it receives and limiting the growth process. If you prune before seasonal growth is complete, the tree could compensate for the loss in leaf surface area by adding leaves to other branches.

Being able to use pruning as a control mechanism will help you keep the trees in your home's landscape looking neat well into the future.