Ask the Experts

Pruning Shrubs

Pruning Shrubs

After the long, cold, winter months, a lot of us jump at the chance to go outdoors and enjoy the fresh air of spring. It’s a great time to prepare for a new season of growth by pruning shrubs that will benefit from a good pruning. It’s also the perfect time to make sure that timely pruning of your spring-flowering shrubs is included in your landscaping maintenance plan to ensure productive, healthy plants.

Why prune?

First, pruning your shrubs is aesthetically important, plus, it keeps your shrubs healthy, beautiful, and vibrant when this is done the right way. How is proper pruning done?

Before we go over the details of proper pruning, let’s discuss the difference between trimming and pruning. Trimming simply involves removing or cutting back overgrowth. On the other hand, pruning entails eliminating old growth, which includes disease, dead, or loose branches and stems. Both trimming and pruning are important to maintain a good plant appearance and health but require different tools and techniques and take place at different times of the year.

Pruning is especially beneficial to your shrubs because:

  • It revives the shrub, making it produce more flowers.
  • Removing old growth helps stimulate new growth, as it redirects essential nutrients, extending your shrub’s life.
  • It discourages disease and rot since pruning the branches helps sunlight reach interior growth.

Although the majority of shrubs need to be pruned annually to maintain their health, pruning some shrub varieties every year may not be necessary. However, it should happen on a regular basis, or else, your shrubs will eventually stop producing flowers as the growth ages.

Proper timing is key

Different varieties of shrubs have varying requirements, and the ideal time of the year to prune your shrubs is largely dependent on what type of plant it is. Basically, there are three kinds of shrubs:

  • Everblooming shrubs – should be pruned as soon as they bloom to give the stem a chance to bud again.
  • Early blooming shrubs – should be pruned during spring, right after they are done blooming.
  • Late blooming shrubs – ideally, these types of shrubs should be pruned late in the winter, since they begin to bud out in the spring.

Trust your shrubs to your Dallas landscaping experts

As a residential property owner or a commercial property owner or manager, these might seem like a lot to keep track of. In addition, not only it is essential to know when to prune, you should have a good understanding of which tools to use and how to use them. For instance:

  • How do you know that you are not pruning too much?
  • How do you know which branches to prune, and which should stay?
  • Which tools are the most effective and the least damaging for pruning?
  • Where in the branch should you cut, and at what angle?

Do not let these details overwhelm you, not when you can trust your shrubs to your Dallas landscaping experts that can do the job right. If you are interested to learn more about pruning shrubs and inquire about our full suite of landscaping maintenance services, get in touch today.