CONTRIBUTED CONTENT: Beyond the shear, Part I

One of the things that sets us apart from other Tree Service providers is that we also offer landscape shrubbery pruning. Many tree services provide tree pruning but avoid landscape shrubs. We on the other hand, annually prune as many landscape shrubs as we do trees. Often, shrub pruning services get covered by lawn care companies and no one thinks about Arborist when they look out at their landscape shrubs. We frequently hear customers say, “I didn’t know you did that too,” when they discover we prune everything from Spirea to Barberries.

Lets start with the statement that trees and shrubs are both woody plants and that they respond to pruning with the same biological rules. Also, for this article I will be using the terms, shrubs and plants synonymously.

The challenge is that most lawn care companies only shear landscape shrubs and overall a majority of customers like the resulting tight geometric forms. While shearing has its place for hedges, delivers on an aesthetically tight form, take a look inside a sheared shrub sometime. Its full of dead stems, old heading cuts and only new response growth at the very end of shearing cuts where plants get sunlight. Repeated shearing leads to a shorter plant life as it struggles to support itself. I am not trying to shame those that prefer shearing, (we have a few clients that do as well) but simply offer a different approach.

It is fairly established that tree topping is an overall bad practice, the same really applies to smaller woody plants like shrubs too.

While shearing off end weight and old blooms is often a beginning step of proper shrub maintenance, it should be followed with additional thinning out of old stems and some correct reduction pruning cuts. This allows sunlight to penetrate into the plant which in turn responds with new growth from deeper inside the plant or even at the ground. This keeps the whole plant more even aged. Repeated shearing however leads to old declining stems and only new growth at the very end where there is available room to grow and receive sunlight. This also leads to a plant that gets larger and as a result, outgrowing its intended size and location.

When we pick this up again next week, I want to offer the fix for these plants/shrubs and introduce “Renovation pruning” or “Partial Renovation pruning” along with the how and when it should be performed.

As always, for further questions, quotes or consultations, give us a call today, 208-762-5800!

For more information on Grace Tree Service, check out our website at gracetreeservice.com.