Hard Pruning with Branches left

First off, let’s define a hard pruning.  I will describe a hard pruning as enough pruning that you completely take off all the green leaves on a plant and just leave the sticks.  Just about every evergreen shrub, if you look inside it, will be naked of any green leaves about a foot from the outside of it.  Normally when it is pruned with shears, it is taken down about 6 inches, or whatever the new growth is for that season.

I want to talk about today a hard pruning on one of those evergreen shrubs.  There always comes a time in every person’s landscape where they have let a particular shrub or two get larger than they were wanting it to get.  That is ok, it happens to everyone.  The problem comes when they think about it and have time to do something about it in the middle of the summer.  Evergreen shrubs are very residual and can tolerate much abuse if done at the right time of the year.  Recently I had a customer that wanted me to cut down some Foster Hollies that had grown to about 30 ft. tall and were covering the entire front of the house.  She wanted to save them if at all possible, but have them come down to about a manageable 6-8ft. height.  I had done this many times before and had great success from cutting them way back and letting them leaf back out and turn into the shrub they were designed to be.  I was able to walk her through this process and we developed a plan that was right for her situation.

Here is what you need to think about when hard pruning a shrub.  What time of year is it and where do you live.  In Nashville, July and Aug are typically hot and dry.  That is very stressful for any plant regardless of whether they have been chopped on or not.  All plants take in the sun’s energy by photosynthesis through their leaves.  That is a very important thing to remember.  During their active growing season, and especially when they are not getting much water, they survive off the sun’s energy.  When they are dormant in the winter, they are enjoying the benefits of winter wetness.  So that brings us to the answer and conclusion of this blog.

How do you take a hard prune from a shrub?  Very simply cut it down as far as you have branches.  Rarely will they fully recover by only having a trunk to put new off of.

When do you take the hard prune from the shrub?  My opinion is during its dormant time.  The sap has released from the shrub, and damage is minimal.  Also, it is not stressed by not having leaves in the summertime to draw energy from the sun.

Don’t be scared of pruning shrubs, they are very forgiving most of the time.

Happy Pruning