Don’t Miss December’s Short Pruning Window – 7 Trees and Shrubs That Need Attention in Milder Regions

A lot of pruning in December depends on your climate. In colder and milder regions, plants go dormant in winter, which is perfect for pruning them, but you do want to avoid pruning during spells of extreme cold and frosty weather. It is always better to do your pruning on milder, frost-free days, and keep a close eye on local forecasts to avoid trimming just before extreme cold arrives.

While in warmer climates, plants may not go fully dormant, but there is a risk of early pruning forcing them to produce tender new shoots, which will be at risk during any cold snaps. It can make December pruning feel like a potential minefield, and the risk of making the pruning mistake of trimming at the wrong time may give inexperienced gardeners sleepless nights.

I have experience in winter pruning from over a decade of professional gardening. I have spent countless hours and days outside in the December cold trimming trees, shrubs, and fruit bushes. To help you plan your month, I highlight seven plants to prune in December here, but only trim them when the weather is suitable. There is no need to rush and get the job done this month, as the pruning window for deciduous trees and shrubs runs from early winter to early spring.

7 plants to prune in December, or not – don’t take any risks

Note pruning these plants on your winter gardening checklist, and trim them when the time is right based on your US hardiness zone and local seasonal climate.

Whether it is this month, next month, or late winter, it is better to wait and do it correctly rather than rush out with the pruning tools and risk losing them to cold.

1. Fall-bearing raspberries

By now, you should have pruned summer-fruiting raspberries, which is a job for fall. Come December, you can prune fall-fruiting raspberries, which, as the name suggests, will have been providing you with delicious raspberry harvests throughout fall.

Once the harvests stop, and the canes go dormant, this raspberry pruning is a quick and simple job to get out of the way in winter. Simply take a pair of sharp pruning shears and cut all the canes back to the ground. As fall-bearing raspberries produce fruit on new growth, the plant will send up canes in spring to carry next year’s goodies.

A quality pair of pruning shears is perfect for this task, and for years I’ve used a trusty pair of Felco pruners. You can get Felco F2 pruning shears at Amazon, and a real bonus to these strong tools is that every part is replaceable, so they can last you for many years to come.

2. Fig trees

When you grow a fig tree, it is pruned during dormancy. Many gardeners wait until late winter to prune fig trees, but it can be done in December in milder climates, provided it is sheltered, and there are no harsh frosts predicted.

If your fig tree is protected by being trained against a wall, for example, it opens up the possibility to prune that bit earlier. Indeed, in one historic garden I worked in, which was in zone 8, we annually pruned our wall-trained fig trees in December or January. Those in colder climates are best to wait until later to trim, but get it done before they start actively growing, as figs bleed sap when cut out of dormancy.

As for how to prune a fig tree in winter, focus on removing dead, diseased, or damaged branches and thinning congested areas to boost air and light penetration into the center of the tree.

Always use the right pruning tool for the task. When branches are wider than half an inch thick, that is too wide for pruning shears. Instead, use a pair of loppers, such as these heavy-duty loppers at Walmart that can cut branches up to two inches thick.

3. Barberry

Barberry, or berberis, offer color and interest throughout the year, and deciduous varieties make some of the best shrubs for fall berries and vibrant seasonal color. It is the deciduous types you can prune in December, but leave evergreen varieties until summer.

Winter dormancy offers a valuable opportunity to revamp and renovate barberry shrubs. As they can form thickets, a bit of TLC rewards you with a healthier plant and a fantastic display of blooms.

Before doing any pruning, though, make sure to have the correct safety gear. Barberry shrubs have sharp spines, which makes thornproof gardening gloves (such as these heavy-duty gardening gauntlets at Amazon) and eye protection crucially important.

To prune barberry in winter, remove any dead, diseased or damaged wood, along with any that are crossing or rubbing. To renovate the shrub, you can remove a few of the oldest stems to open up the center and encourage new shoots. It is also advisable to remove any suckers at the base.

4. Rambling roses

Many gardeners, even experienced ones, find rose pruning intimidating. Even though it can be daunting, regular pruning is essential for shapely and attractive roses. Proper pruning is potentially the most vital job when you grow and care for roses.

When it comes to rambling roses, in particular, they can get out of control if left unmanaged. And an ideal time to deal with any unruly ones is in December, especially as the heavy pruning can be made easier when you can see what you're doing once all the leaves have dropped.

To prune rambling roses that have gotten overgrown and need a heavier hand, don’t be afraid. They are resilient climbing plants that will bounce back once they start growing in spring.

Remove dead, damaged, and diseased stems, and identify around six healthy, vigorous stems you wish to keep. Cut all the others to the base, and then any side shoots from the remaining chosen stems can be shortened by up to a half to encourage bushy growth.

5. Apple trees

Free-standing apple trees are pruned during dormancy, and this forms a vital part of keeping trees healthy and productive.

Regular apple tree pruning means more productive wood and fruiting buds, and a canopy that gets more light and air circulation to reduce the risk of diseases and help ripen the fruit. An unpruned tree will be congested, diseased, and can grow to a size which makes picking apples more difficult.

You may need pruning shears, loppers, and a pruning saw to prune an apple tree. A pruning saw, such as Fiskars folding pruning saw at Amazon, is essential for cleanly pruning larger tree branches. Have a clear shape and intention in mind before pruning, and carefully think about each cut.

Remove dead, damaged, diseased, and crossing branches, along with any growing inwards towards the trunk and branches growing downwards from the center. Remove any weak or spindly stems, then cut back last year’s growth by a third to encourage the development of more spurs to carry fruit.

Avoid the fruit tree pruning mistake of removing more than 20% of the canopy. It can be counter-productive to be too heavy-handed, as it may encourage the growth of lots of watershoots.

6. Grapes

When you grow grapes, pruning is important to guarantee the best harvest. They fruit on one-year-old wood, so it means, when established, pruning ensures you have productive wood and a sustainable number of grapes to ripen. It also stops the fast-growing flowering vine from getting out of control.

Knowing when to prune grape vines depends on where they are growing. You prune grape vines during dormancy, as they profusely bleed sap when actively growing, and that can weaken the vine as a whole as well as attract pests and diseases.

If you grow grapes indoors, such as in a greenhouse, they will start growing earlier than outdoor vines. So it makes earlier pruning in December highly recommended. Younger vines are trained and shaped over several years, while mature grape vines are pruned by cutting the dormant canes back to two or three buds.

Sharp tools are essential to good pruning, so consider carrying a pocket-sized sharpening tool like this one on Amazon to keep pruning shears or loppers sharp ahead of any trimming.

7. Wisteria

Wisteria are rampant plants that require pruning to keep them under control and flowering at their best. Best practise is to prune wisteria twice a year, once in summer and once in winter. The winter prune helps to see the framework once the leaves drop, when you can shape and thin the flowering climber.

Thankfully, winter wisteria pruning is a very simple task. Remove dead, diseased, or damaged shoots, prune shoots to two or three buds, and take this opportunity to reshape the shrub. It is also a good time to train and tie in new stems.

Older wisteria that need a bit of renovation can have longer branches cut back or pruned out completely to aid congestion.

Before you head out to do any pruning this month, be aware that not all plants are suitable for trimming in winter. Check this guide to plants to never prune in December to see if any plants in your yard are featured. In particular, spring-flowering shrubs and trees that are known to bleed sap in winter rank among the worst plants to trim during December.