When are you suppose to prune your trees?

If you can't do it before the first frost, then do it early Spring

Depends on the area of the country you are in. Here in South

Florida, we usually do it after we harvest our fruit if a fruit tree, or after flowering.

Depends on the variety of trees which was not mentioned

On the whole (and the easy answer is), you want to prune trees in their dormant stage when the sap is down. But there is no universal rule for all trees and bushes. It depends on the specific tree and the growing zone you live in. Even all the same cultivars of a given species (for example Japanese Maples or hydrangeas) are not pruned at the same time. See a recent discussion here on when to prune different varieties of hydrangeas. So the bottom line is, there is no easy or universal answer. Plants are expensive and PRUNING IS FOREVER so it pays to do your research BEFORE getting out the shears!! Talk to local nursery folks and/or contact your local ag extension officer (you have these even if you do not live in a rural community) and if they don't know the answer, they can refer you to local master gardeners. These are community folks who have trained in the Master Gardening course. These people love caring for plants and generally love sharing what they know. Not only will you get the information you need, but you may even be able to rustle up someone knowledgeable to mentor your personally and to take hands on training from. You may just want to know what to cut off but there is an ART AND SCIENCE to pruning. You may find that knowledge is power, results in much a more beautiful yard, protects the health of your plants and the investment you have in your yard and fosters the continue health and bloom of your plants! Good luck!!!