habituate these straightforward tips to trim all your evergreen tree and bush .
Evergreens are some of the hardest - workingliving elements in your landscape painting . They produce foliation year - round , and in the depth of winter , they bringcolor and texture to front entriesand garden beds , when most deciduous plant are bare . Caring forevergreen treesand shrubs includes occasional pruning to keep them healthy and bet their good . In some cases , you also might need to tame speedy growth that ’s crowding walkway or other industrial plant . Pruning evergreen is a little dissimilar thantrimming other tree and bush . This simple guide will take the air you through the basics of pruning so you’re able to revel decades of year - round color from these beautiful plants .
Tips for Trimming Evergreens
Besides trees or bush with dead or damaged areas , overgrown andfast - acquire evergreen are the quality candidatesfor pruning . Your main goal is to preserve the natural shape of the plant life as much as possible ( unless you ’re creating a graven hedge or topiary , of course ) . So trade your hedge trimmers for a sturdy pair of pruning shear or pruner so you’re able to cautiously cut away individual leg . Selectively remove each branch back to the main branch it may be growing from , or to the automobile trunk itself . For shrubs , you may need to ignore a arm back to ground level . Annual pruning to maintain an evergreen plant ’s size is easier on the plant — and you — than tackling freehanded pruning project every few years .
How to Trim Overgrown Evergreen Trees
evergreen plant tree diagram that are pushing the limits on their planting quad are knavish to rein in while maintaining the natural form of the plant . In many cases , evergreen plant trees do not produce newfangled growth on old component of a branch . For example , new growth on a whitepineforms entirely at the lead of the ramification . Cutting a branch back by half its length will simply lead in a dead outgrowth check stub . Often the only tactic for shorten the sizing of an evergreen plant tree diagram is to cut the lower branches all the way back to the tree trunk .
How to Cut Back Overgrown Evergreen Shrubs
Unlike overgrown evergreen trees , shrubs normally can cover more vivid pruning to slenderize their size of it . Still , it ’s best to trim back an overgrown shrub by pruning one subdivision at a time , rather than shear the plant . This will make it much easier to maintain the shrub ’s natural shape . And remember , many evergreens do not grow new growing on old portions of a leg , so shearing sure evergreen can leave an surly , brown pickle that takes a foresightful meter to maturate out .
Maintaining Evergreen Hedges
Yearly pruning is key to keep up a hedge . Some fast - growing evergreens might demand an former give pruning and a midsummer trimness to keep them in bounds and tidy . Boxwood , juniper , yew , and holly arecommon evergreen hedge plants . A shrill pair of shears will do the problem , butpowered hedge trimmersmake for faster piece of work . Just be measured not to burn the hedgerow back to the all in zone ( the interior surface area where there ’s no foliage ) . Some mintage will force out new buds when cut back to bare arm , but others wo n’t fill in again . Stick to only slew the outermost couple of inches of leafage .
The Best Time to Prune Evergreens
tardy wintertime or other spring is thebest time to prunemost evergreen plant . Pruning in outflow allows the cuts to cure rapidly and new buds to develop . Flowering evergreens , such asrhododendronsandcamellias , are an exception . To maximize heyday bud for the following twelvemonth , prune flowering evergreensright after they flower . One surefire confidential information : do n’t prune evergreen plant in late summertime or declension . Pruning late in the get seasonleaves plants susceptible to winter equipment casualty .
The calendar is n’t a factor when cut outdead , humbled , or pathological evergreen plant foliage . Remove the wound branches as soon as you notice them , cutting back to sizable , lively emergence or to the principal fore . Aim to make cuts that forget the flora with the most natural shape potential . This often mean cutting the subdivision back to the trunk or to soil level for a shrub .
Credit: Jay Wilde
Credit: Jay Wilde
