On 15 Jan 2007 08:08:38 -0800, "
wrote:

Hello,

I have heard several different ideas about the right time to prune or
trim trees. (By the way, is there a difference between pruning and
trimming?) "Prune only in winter" . . . "Prune only in summer" . . .
"Prune any time" . . . .

Anyway, I live in Wisconsin, so now in January it is winter here. I
want to thin out the branches in my silver maples so that I have a
little more sunlight on the yard below. When is the right time to do
this?

In the event that someone tells me to get rid of the trees altogether,
that is out of the question. We rent.

Thank you!

Ted Shoemaker

You are better off pruning silver maples a bit later in winter. In
Wisconsin, that could be as early as March, late as May. Sometime
before last frost and before the sugars start running in the trees.

Fruit trees should be pruned in very late winter. Here in TX, that's
in February. Up there, it would be late April or early May. It all
depends on the tree.