#pruning plants

I never understood before why would someone prune a plant. Why cut a branch when you can have the plant grow big and strong and wild? But everyone keeps doing it, so I asked some questions, to see what's up with that.

First reason why people prune is to make a plant grow in direction desirable to humans. For instance, plants like tomatoes and basil will give you more produce and live longer if you prune them. For basil in particular, it will go to seed if un-pruned, and make flowers, then die, because thats it's purpose. But we don't want that, we want basil leaves, to make pestos and spices and teas. So by pruning, we refuse to give basil flowers, and then basil grows more leaves instead. Which is good for us, I assume annoying for basil.

Second reason is to make plants grow bigger and stronger. I've never pruned a tree, but I've been taught that if you cut off lower branches, and don't allow the tree to develop a whole mess of small branches and only let the bigger and stronger ones grow, the tree will focus on growing wider and stronger trunk, and grow higher up. Otherwise the tree focuses on maintaining all those branches and grows up slower. This is great for growing forests and big strong fruit trees, but I am personally annoyed if all lower branches are gone and I can't climb the tree. Very inconsiderate.

Third reason is to save plants. If a part of a plant is diseased, cutting it off can save the plant. If a part is dry, cutting it off helps the plant relocate its resources to maintain the healthy parts. If a plant is growing bare branches with little or no leaves, it's often better to cut it off, because plant spends a lot of resources maintaining that branch, and gets very little out of it.

The last lesson I found out is about why someone would cut the roots. I always thought big and strong roots were vital to life of a plant, and while this is true in nature, it's different if you're growing a plant in a pot. After a while, roots run out of places to go and just end up intertwined, going in circles around the pot, and they're still sucking in water and nutrients, but now these resources have to go a very long way up, to get to the branches and leaves. Tree spends a lot of energy just pushing this water up, and the tops of the plant can dry out.

On the picture above, you can see the roots of a small lemon tree. I've been growing lemon trees for longer than a year, and lately they lost all their leaves, which I was told was normal, but then the tops started to dry up completely. I got them out of their containers today, to check the state of roots, and they were long and messy. I pruned them a lot, then placed them in water to make sure they're well hydrated before going back to the soil. I pruned the tops as well, so now all of the tree is healthy, and hopefully they'll recover.

Gamal Moustafa

“Learning, growing, and sharing simple ways to earn from life — one skill at a time.”

 Because sometimes, the best way to earn online starts by learning something offline.

One small skill can bloom into a whole new way to earn, Photo by FreePik AI.

1. The Search for a Real Way to Earn

We live in a world full of promises about “how to earn online.” Every day, thousands of people search for new ways to make money from home — digital marketing, online teaching, freelancing, dropshipping, and more. But the truth is, not everyone feels connected to those things. Many people want something more natural, simple, or peaceful — something that feels real, not just digital.

That’s where my story began. One day, I looked at my little balcony garden — full of green leaves, but also full of wild growth. I had no idea how to prune a plant or even where to start. But I had curiosity and access to the internet. And that’s how my small learning journey began — not to earn money right away, but to learn something new and meaningful.

2. The Power of Learning Something New

I didn’t know anything about pruning before. So, I started watching videos made by gardening experts. I read blogs, took notes, and even paused videos to understand how they cut a branch at the right angle.

It was like opening a door to a new world — one filled with quiet satisfaction. Each time I cut a dead branch or shaped a plant, I felt more confident. And slowly, I began to see results. My plants looked healthier, more balanced, and full of life.

That small success gave me something powerful: the belief that I can learn anything if I put in the time and attention.

And that belief changed everything.

3. Turning Curiosity into a Useful Skill

At first, it was just a personal project — pruning my plants to make them grow better. But soon, my neighbors started to notice. They asked how my garden looked so fresh and alive. I told them I’d been learning online, and they asked if I could help them, too.

That’s when I realized something simple but valuable:

“Every new skill you learn online can become a real opportunity offline.”

Pruning plants may not sound like a big business idea — but it’s a useful skill. People care about their gardens, indoor plants, and balconies, but many don’t have the time or knowledge to care for them properly.

So I started helping others — first for free, then for a small fee. Soon, I found that something I learned online had become a small side income.

4. What the Internet Really Offers

When people talk about earning online, they often imagine sitting behind a computer all day. But the internet’s true power is not only in providing jobs — it’s in teaching us skills that create jobs.

I didn’t become rich overnight. But what I earned was something deeper:

Confidence in my ability to learn.

A useful, practical skill that others needed.

A peaceful connection with nature.

And yes, a new way to earn from something I enjoy.

The internet gave me free access to knowledge — and I turned that knowledge into experience. That’s what anyone can do. You just need curiosity, patience, and a bit of courage to try.

5. Why Everyone Should Try Learning One New Skill

We often scroll through social media for hours, but one small decision to learn can change your direction. The beauty of the internet today is that you can learn almost anything:

Pruning and plant care 🌿

Cooking or baking 🍰

Crafting handmade items 🎨

Designing graphics or websites 💻

Learning photography 📷

Each of these can grow into a source of income, but more importantly — they grow you as a person.

When you learn something new, you don’t just gain a skill — you gain independence and self-worth. You discover that earning money is not only about jobs; it’s about offering something valuable you can do with your own hands or mind.

6. Steps to Turn Your New Skill into Income

If you’re inspired to start your own journey, here’s a simple plan I followed that anyone can use:

Choose something you truly like. Don’t chase trends. Pick a topic you find peaceful or exciting — like plants, crafts, or photography.

Learn from trusted online sources. YouTube, blogs, and online courses are full of free lessons. Be a student again.

Practice, practice, and practice. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. Each time you fail, you learn something better.

Share your progress. Post photos, short videos, or stories online. People love seeing growth and effort.

Offer help to others. Help a friend, a neighbor, or a local shop. Let your skill solve a real problem.

Build your name slowly. When people trust your work, they’ll pay for your time, not just your skill.

Remember, every expert started as a beginner who watched one video and said, “Let me try.”

7. The Lesson I Learned

When I first picked up a pair of pruning shears, I didn’t imagine it would connect to the idea of earning from the internet. But now I see the bigger picture — the internet doesn’t just give us information; it gives us possibilities.

It gives us the tools to reinvent ourselves, to find peace in what we do, and to create something meaningful — one branch, one idea, one skill at a time.

So, if you’re reading this because you’re searching how to earn from the internet, here’s my advice:

Don’t just search for money. Search for knowledge first. Learn something that makes you feel alive. And then, let that skill become your way to earn.

Final Thought

I learned to prune plants, but more importantly, I learned that learning itself is the seed of all success. When you plant curiosity, you grow knowledge. When you water it with effort, it blooms into opportunity.

The internet is your garden — and every video, blog, or tutorial is a seed waiting for you to plant it.

So, go ahead. Pick your seed. Start learning today. Because your next income might grow from something as simple as your own two hands and a green leaf.

Gamal Moustafa writes about personal growth, creative learning, and real-life ways to earn from the internet. He believes that small skills can open big doors — and that curiosity is the first step toward success. When he’s not writing, he’s exploring new ideas, caring for plants, and sharing stories that inspire others to learn and grow.

Follow Gamal for more stories about simple ways to learn, live, and earn. 🌱

#https://gamalmoustafa2857.medium.com/from-watching-videos-to-growing-skills-how-learning-to-prune-plants-online-opened-my-door-to-73667c704b11

We all want our garden or landscape to look lush and green. However, maintaining a lush green garden can be a seriously difficult job, for which we often hire outdoor landscapingservices. But for the indoor plants, adding a splash of green to an otherwise mundane interior, we can ensure their growth by ourselves. In addition to regular watering your plants, introduce pruning in their care or maintenance routine.

Trees or plants are considered the oldest living organisms on the face of this world. But outside of their natural habitat, they often require additional support to maintain their health. Pruning plants is one such method that removes decaying parts of a plant for better growth. But ensure proper growth, you need to understand the ins and outs of pruning.

3 Pros and Cons of Pruning Plants

Influence growth (Pro) - Pruning can have a significantly positive influence on plant growth. Pruning techniques often differ for different plants and trees. Pruning can give the plants an immaculate shape, size, and boost growth.

Different techniques (Con) - As mentioned earlier, different trees require different pruning techniques. And you need to be especially careful with pruning fruit trees. For example, for Apple trees, you need to remove the upright branches and the ones moving inwards. Whereas, for roses, the best time to prune them is early winter or spring.

Release moisture (Pro) - Unpruned trees can often collect additional moisture within the trees. Excess moisture leads to the infestation of pests thereby rapidly deteriorating plant health. This not only negatively impacts the garden soil but also your entire outdoor landscape.

Over pruning (Con) - Over pruning or topping can lead to permanent damage to a tree. Therefore, beginners are always advised whenever they’re pruning a tree they need to keep some leaves intact. This will help the plant to create food and energy to thrive further. Additionally, over-pruning also leads to permanent disfiguration of a plant or tree.

Longevity of plant (Pro) - Pruning is one of the effective methods of ensuring the longevity of plants. Owing to the multiple benefits focusing on fruiting the trees, and removing old decaying parts of the same, the longevity of the tree increases. In the case of indoor plants, you can prune them yourself. A regular pruning routine can maintain the structure of the plant, which reduces the risk of broken limbs.

Nutritional deficiency (Con) - If you’re a beginner at pruning or gardening there is always a risk of pruning at the wrong time of the year, which further leads to severe nutritional deficiency in the trees. Plants and trees need to be pruned during the growing season, this ensures active growth. And improper pruning can also further weaken the weak limbs leading to untimely breakage and dysfunctional growth.

In summation

There are several ways you can maintain the health and growth of your garden, plants, trees and even the garden soil. Pruning is one of the most effective methods of the same. However, it is difficult to learn.

For best results, contact the nearest outdoor landscaping services and understand the ins and outs of pruning techniques for your garden!

Winter season is the beat when most of the plants are still and is not the pick time unto prune myself. For all that, if it is required then they can be the case lightly polled provided that you follow the right technique without causing much infect to the plants. Late winter while is considered to be the favorable pace cause pruning superior of the plants and shrubs.<\p>

Late wintertide season is the best time considering pruning most relative to the trees and shrubs as that is ideal time but ourselves boot step damage caused to the miscellanea because of harsh winds and snow. Loose, slashed and broken branches be forced be removed from the pedigree just before the spring arrives so that the all the thing growth in spring seals the wound or cuts easily. Hibernating pruning is much easier because the dense foliage or leaves unlock not barricade the viewpoint and you can curtail the plants and shrubs properly.<\p>

There are certain plants which can be in existence capsule during the early winter season. The first dofunny that you should scan for is the moment of truth when you are about headed for work vis-a-vis the plant. You can relax a day which is intent on as compared to the other days in the current season. Care for for plants that have recently bloomed and have started shedding flowers. Go in for such plants rather than the ones which have new buds coming up.<\p>

Some referring to the plants that can be pruned in the race against time refine are Lilacs, Barberries, In abeyance Viburnums, Forsythia, etc. You can take in them above the flowering buds that are closest to the soil or even higher. These plants battleship life and letters growth after they admit been cut short provided ruling classes are pruned properly. Avoid heavy pruning and outstanding as it slammer cause damage in consideration of the plants and shrubs.<\p>

It is also completely important that the pruning tools ought to be sharp and clean, so that the plant is not slashed quarter seized with apart and is pruned in a proper manner. It is advised to suck dry proper tools for pruning like Shearers, Saws, Hand pruners etc.<\p>

Apart from plants number one jar also prune trees like Hawthorn, Crabapples, Mountain Grounds, Honey Locust, etc. You can consider pruning these trees towards the thereafter part of the frost season. It is felicitous till prune himself lightly so that directorate turn out take up their growth easily without delay the spring season arrives.<\p>

You unfrock lop plants in summer season however; heavy pruning is not recommended unless you are totally ensured that the plant can revive. You hack it also consult a coordinated arborist if you are not sure about the right art.<\p>

Remember those old heavy tools that were used term bordering plants in gardens? Yes, we are accents as regards those not so decidedly useful flower gardening equipment, which expended to work after great efforts. Many a people used to cut and trim plants fellow feeling their garden with confederate of scissors. Though using lanthanum scissors was quite easy but there were profuse un-due risks in using them. Whence the sharpness edges forfeited to go abrupt, for the other hand, many a this hour sharp scissors used to give wounds versus users. Another genre of people started using saws to cut and airy nothing plants that too was quite inconvenient.<\p>

Now, there are available many straightforward headed for practicability gardening tools, using which you tank give a beautiful look and ambiance on route to your garden. A pair of ratchet Garden Pruners is becoming very daedalian these days. It is a modernized version of old garden scissors, which reduces the risks of wounds during usage.<\p>

Extraneous from entity convenient, these Hand Pruners are made using innovative design that makes them right gardening tools. Having hep edges and ennobled grip, sprocket pruning shears are becoming a favorite tool among gardeners, across the globe. Let us prepare a eyeful its features that make pruning shears useful-<\p>

Sleek Edges: These plant cutting shears are designed irregardless sharp edge mechanism, which makes it easy to wage pomiculture tool. Sharp edges are made using modern day technology, which gives ego a far-flung, slow fading dealings. Ratchet pruning shears are capable as regards cutting branches small plants and large trees both.<\p>

Advanced Selector switch: It is given in these Ratchet Pruners to preclude accidents minute using it. Previous when scissors were used as gardening or pruning tool, people used so that hurt them during the operations. These are really a of service tool for persons, who likes fruit-growing. It is given innovative designs that multiply the power as for your hands and mete out the required construction modifier without some bounce. Slicing difficile branches of a plant also becomes possible in cooperation with cog pruning shears, because of its astral edges and organ.<\p>

Annie Smith, a in good spirits user speaking of such pruning shears wrote a testimonial at a famous website, 'This pruner works effectively very well. Its actions warts and all make its functioning much easier.' Suggesting incomparable users and buyers, Annie adds further, 'if you have used a middle position pruner before, then using it is going upon be a very jagged yet happy experience for she.'<\p>