Are you tired of paying for the upkeep and maintenance of your landscape? Do you wish you could get out in your lawn and do some of the work, but don’t know where to start? It can be overwhelming when you look at all of the tasks that are required by both large and small landscapes. Let’s take one task off of that list - pruning hedges. The good news is that the main principles of pruning are fairly simple and easy to follow. Here are the basics for pruning hedges in your landscape:
PRUNING HEDGES
Benefits of pruning hedges
Encourages development
Better looking, healthier plant
Not as susceptible to disease
If you don’t prune hedges...
Plants can be weak
Branching will only occur at tips of stems
Hedge won’t be dense enough to support weight
Can cause ‘dead space’ in the interior of plant where leaves don’t grow due from being shaded out by external growth
When do you prune shrubs? *these are general rules and may vary from shrub to shrub
Prune off one-third or one-half of your young shrub within the first month of planting to ensure proper health and development
non-flowering: prune in early spring before new growth
summer flowering: prune in late winter or early spring before bud set to encourage heavy flowering
spring flowering (flower before June 15): prune soon after flowering so as to not remove buds for the next year
Formal hedges *pay attention to flowering for timing & use lateral cuts
Sheared/shaped to geometrical shape
Before new growth in spring-during/after 1st growth spurt
New leaves cover up pruning cuts
Don’t prune late summer (Aug-Sep)
Level top & sides
Should be in 2nd or 3rd yr of establishment
Long formal hedge- use powered hedge trimmers
Broad leaf or short formal hedge- use hand pruners
Won’t cut wide leaves in half
Bottom of plant wider than top
light reaches plant
Start at bottom, work up & taper sides
Use guide for accuracy
1x1s slightly taller than hedge with joint wing nuts to adjust angle
Informal hedges
Most can be thinned any time of year (see flowering time if it flowers)
Let grow through 2nd season
Only rejuvenate
Hand pruners/ loppers
Thin branches
Lateral cuts
Allows sunlight to reach plant
Rejuvenating shrubs
When a shrub is overgrown
Some can be cut 2-3” from ground
Holly, spirea, privet, etc.
NOT for needled evergreens- will not regrow on bare branches
Can do over several years
One-third of stems to ground each year
Doesn’t look good at the time, but will be best in the long run - plant will look better with time