Pruning Dogwood Shrubs.

Pruning Guide for Commonly Used Shrubs Use the following tables as a guideline to determine the right time to prune for many common shrubs.

Sign In Create Account.

Most plants will do their best if allowed to grow to their natural form and shape. Shearing and excessive pruning. Dec 28, The shrubs mentioned in this calendar for pruning do NOT HAVE TO BE PRUNED in many instances. These are simply optimum times if you so wish. For instance, some of the evergreens are best pruned back by mid-summer in order that they gain sufficient ‘hardy;’ growth before the onset of the following winter.

In general, the best time to prune trees and shrubs is during the dormant season. Major pruning, in which more than 15 percent of the top of a plant is removed, is best left until early spring (February or March).

At this time of year, deciduous plants have no foliage so the branching structure can be clearly seen and pruning cuts will callus. Mar 07, Many deciduous shrubs (those that lose their leaves in the fall) can be kept healthy and vigorous by removing a few of the largest, oldest stems every 2 or 3 years. Unfortunately, many individuals fail to prune their shrubs because of a lack of time, knowledge, or courage.

As a result of this neglect, shrubs often become leggy and unattractive. Apr 23, When pruning mature, overgrown shrubs, remove the thickest branches first. Cut them back to the base of the shrub to promote new growth.

Hand pruners are useful for smaller branches. Some can handle diameters up to an inch, but long-handled loppers give you leverage to cut branches 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Sep 14, The best time to prune members of the evergreen tree and shrub family is in the spring. Pruning them in August, or even closer to winter, will only lead to them dying out in the cold weather.

With gleaming, dark-green needles spiraling down upright stems year-round plus holiday-red berries in summer, yews are comely shrubs and a great choice for ground covers, specimen shrubs and dense, vertical hedges that can reach 20 feet or more in height.

Deciduous trees and shrubs. Oct 30, If your particular plant becomes straggly, then cutting back hard – to within 30cm of the ground – will rejuvenate it. However, this last option should be done with care! See below. As with the vast majority of flowering evergreen shrubs, Hebe shrubs should be pruned in the growing season – or right at the end of the winter dormancy period. Feb 22, How to Prune an Overgrown Yew Shrub. Yews (Taxus spp.) are long-lived evergreens that can reach 40 feet tall, depending on species, when.