What to do when Shrubs Outgrow Their Space
Tom DePaepe
S
hrubs play an important role in our landscapes. They are great for screening foundations, creating borders and adding interest through dramatic foliage or delicate blooms. While shrubs can be utility players in home landscapes, homeowners often underestimate their mature heights and breadths. One day a shrub is the perfect addition to your entry way, the next it is the size of a small tree and visitors brush up against it on their way to your front door. What can homeowners do when shrubs outgrow their intended space?
Rejuvenation Pruning Believe it or not, many varieties of shrubs can tolerate severe pruning in the fall to reduce overall height. Homeowners can really get aggressive here – it’s perfectly okay to cut back the entire shrubs to within inches of the ground. Healthy shrubs will bounce back the next growing season. The major benefit to this type of pruning is that the overgrown shrub is immediately brought back into check. The downside is that the shrub is less aesthetically appealing pending new growth. Dogwoods, forsythia, rose of Sharon, hydrangea, privet, honeysuckle, elderberry, spirea and lilac can all tolerate rejuvenation pruning. (Evergreen shrubs will not tolerate rejuvenation pruning.) Renewal Pruning Renewal pruning is more subtle than rejuvenation pruning, but will also bring shrubs back in line.
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Instead of cutting an entire shrub back at once, you can remove one-third of the shrub each year over three years. In order to do this effectively, you will remove about one-third of the old branches back to the crown or main stem. Your goal is to maintain the overall shape of the shrub while reducing its density and height over time. Although this process takes longer than rejuvenation pruning, it is more aesthetically pleasing in the short term. Barberry, pyracantha, forsythia and weigela are good candidates for renewal pruning. It is important to remember that removing branches from some species at this time of year will decrease or completely prevent blooming in the next growing season. The above methods apply to shrubs that have already outgrown their site. What can you do to prevent shrubs from getting overgrown in the first place? Regular thinning and heading cuts will help
you manage shrub growth, size and health. A heading cut involves removing the topmost growth of a branch back to a healthy bud or branch. This technique will encourage growth below the cut, making the plant more dense (increasing the need for thinning). Thinning cuts are made by cutting off a branch at its point of origin from the parent stem, to a lateral side branch, to the “Y” of a branch junction, or to ground level. Generally, you can remove a stem back to a lateral that is one-third the diameter of the branch being removed. Thinning and heading cuts are best used in tandem. Proper shrub pruning should involve the intentional removal of branches while maintaining the natural shape of the plant. It is not the same as shearing off the tips of all branches with hedge trimmers on some arbitrary schedule. A good pruning job is subtle. Before pruning, consider the natural form of the plant and remove branches that don’t fit. This approach takes more time, but is better for the plants involved both aesthetically and physiologically. Tom DePaepe is an ISA Certified Arborist with Ryan Lawn & Tree. He can be reached at 816-2461707 or at tomdepaepe@ryanlawn. com.
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www.countryclubtreeservice.com The Kansas City Gardener / November 2013