PRUNED to PERFECTION

As a newbie gardener (with a black thumb I suspect), I was curious to know what the term pruning meant. So I asked Google Guru.

It says there that the purpose of pruning is:

1) to give better shape to the plant.

2) to enable it to bear more fruit.

Hmm...better shape?! That would mean aesthetics. A garden has to be visually appealing. Its not just about flowers and fruits, right? I get that.

Now the second purpose is more about usefulness, productivity.  Let's see what else Google can tell me about this.

On reading I discovered that pruning is not just cutting away bits and pieces off the plant whimsically. And every kind of plant needs a special type of pruning. Wow! 

For example, some plants should be pruned in spring only. Others can be pruned in summer. Some should be lightly pruned while others can be heavily pruned.

There's one part that must be definitely removed in order to get more branches and consequently more flowers and fruits. It's called the Terminal Bud. Its that long lanky topmost part of a branch that produces flowers. If I didnt know better, I would keep that part to get the flowers and fruits. But NO, it has got to go.

Because only when it is pruned, pinched or broken off, the chemical secreted in it will slow down, causing lateral branches to grow. So with this one very simple technique of pruning, the plant grows many more branches and ultimately there will be flowers and fruits on each of them.  By the sacrifice of one, there is abundance. 

I now see why Jesus spoke of pruning in the Gospels. Boy, He really knew his stuff! 

Correct pruning is one of the most essential methods of restoring a sick plant to good health. Dead, damaged, and diseased shoots and branches need to be cut all the way back to healthy wood. These shoots need to be disposed of in the trash or by burning to get rid of any infection or disease and prevent its spread in the garden.

WHEN TO PRUNE, THAT'S THE QUESTION.

It is accepted theory that the best time to prune is during the dormant period. Winter pruning stimulates growth, while summer pruning slows it down.

However, on flowering shrubs, when you want to stimulate the most beautiful flower growth, pruning immediately after blooming is the best way to encourage full and abundant flowering growth the following spring. 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Pruning is the most important step in terms of wine making. Pruning is the process of selectively removing unsuitable or extraneous canes (the portion from which comes the grapes during harvest season). 

This selection is based on two factors: first producing fruitful shoots in the coming season (present need) and second in choosing healthy shoot for the next dormant season (future need).

Without the pruning process, a gardener would never get new fruit since it can only be produced on shoots growing from one-year-old canes. Hence, if he wants to see more grapes produced, pruning is essential. Without pruning, a gardener or winemaker can say goodbye to his vineyard, which will soon die.

Like branches of a vine, we have two options: abide in Jesus and allow God to prune us, or choose not to remain in him. 

If we abide or remain in Christ, we accept to be pruned, to produce more fruit, quality fruit, and to be a vessel of honor for God. We also receive the incredible promise that we can “ask whatever you will and it will be done”(John 15:7).

However, if we do not abide or remain in Christ, Jesus also confirms the sad future that awaits us. Essentially, those who are not connected to the vine cannot bear fruit independently. They are thrown aside, wither away, and are thrown into a fire to burn.