Pruning a flowering almond?

I know that you should prune a flowering almond after it is done flowering in the spring, but what I need to know is how far back do you prune it? I want to somewhat control the shape and size of it.

Pruning a flowering almond?
You should always prune back to a point just above a living bud. Do not prune so close to the bud so as to injure it. Do not prune so far from the bud that you leave stumps. Stumps will not heal or heal so slowly that they become entry for diseases and insects. A properly pruned branch/stem will heal quickly. How far back should you prune? You are pruning for size %26amp; shape. Step back %26amp; determine where that point should be based upon your objective for the shrub. Know what and why you are going to prune before you prune. Just remember to prune back to a living bud.



Select your shrubs/plant sites so that they can grow without the need to prune to size. As a general rule, you can prune a shrub to 2/3 to 3/4 of it mature size and maintan that size. More than this %26amp; you are stressing the shrub; you probably picked the wrong shrub for that location. Good luck %26amp; keep your pruners sharp %26amp; clean.
Reply:Prune it back a little further than the size and shape you want so it can go 2-3 years between prunings. You don't want to make severe prunings (like half the tree) so keep it under control. The year after your first prune you may have fewer blooms but that's just the price you pay to keep it the size and shape you want. It doesn't hurt the tree the way a massive pruning would.