- 1). Wait to prune the coral bark maple until late fall or early winter. This improves your view of the tree's branching structure as well as avoids any sap bleeding that would occur if pruning was done in early spring, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.
- 2). Look for any dead, diseased or inward-crossing/rubbing branches in the tree's canopy. These branches warrant removal. Make the pruning cut 1/2-inch above the lower junction with a healthy branch with the hand pruners. Larger branches that are dead or sickly are best pruned away at their joint with the main trunk.
- 3). Prune away any small twigs on the interior of the canopy near the central and lower parts of main branches. To prevent fungal disease issues, you want the interior of the maple tree (once its leaves appear next spring and summer) to be rather open and allow penetration of both light and air circulation. Make pruning cuts of these excessive twigs flush with the branch or trunk, but do not cut into, tear back or wound the bark integrity on these healthy branches and trunk.
- 4). Examine the coral bark tree next spring to note if the winter weather caused any twig or limb die-back. Do not prune them now, but remember some clean-up trimming is needed. Once the leaves fully mature and it's early summer, return to trim out only the dead twigs from the last winter.
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