How to Train Flowering Almond

Overview

Flowering almond is a small shrub or tree that has white and pink blooms and adds a splash of color and pleasant aroma to a landscape, especially in a dry or arid climate. When they start to flourish, you have to train them so they can mature into their own trees, usually with pruning and staking. It takes some time and patience, but flowering almond plants can be trained to provide beauty to your landscape.

Step 1

Find the three to four largest branches growing off the main trunk that are within three feet of the ground. Do not attempt to trim these at all, so they can develop into the mature flowering almond trees.

Step 2

Put on the gloves to protect your hands. Use the gardening shears to trim away all of the other branches around these main branches, so you can begin to train them and direct nutrients to the branches that need it the most. Trim these other branches back to the trunk of the tree; this will also help increase air circulation.

Step 3

Secure a gardening stake into the ground next to the flowering almond's main trunk. Use a tree tie or twine to tightly tie the flowering almond to the stake to encourage growth straight up, thus training it.

Step 4

Prune away any other branches that grow in the lower third of the trunk during the dormant season. Continue to do this until the flowering almond is the height you want, ideally around 8 feet high and wide.

Step 5

Create the "vase" shape of the flowering almond at this point, once it is at the desired height. Use the pruning shears to return to the main three or four trunks and prune them back to about 6 to 10 inches. This will train them to develop up into a vase shape.

Step 6

Prune back branches from the flowering almond that grow out at awkward angles, or that are overcrowded at any time, as well as any broken, dead or diseased limbs.