The first flush: why weak growth needs patience

A tree that came through winter thin, or was repotted the year before, often pushes a weak first flush — pale, short internodes, fewer leaves than a neighbour of the same species. The instinct is to feed harder or prune to force a response; both make it worse. A recovering tree needs full light, steady water and time, not intervention. Let the first flush run its course unpruned. The second flush, in early summer, is the one that tells the truth about how the tree is doing — and the one worth acting on.