How to prune evergreen shrubs

 
Maintain the look of your formal shrubs by keeping them nice and tidy. Here are a few tips and tricks for pruning evergreen shrubs.

Maintain the look of your formal shrubs by keeping them nice and tidy. Here are a few tips and tricks for pruning evergreen shrubs.
While evergreen shrubs can be pruned at any time of the year, early spring is typically the best time to tackle the task before new growth appears. In the case of evergreen shrubs designed as hedges, you may want to wait until after new growth emerges to prune the hedges into desired shapes.

How to prune evergreen shrubs:

Tools needed

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• Garden shears

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• Gloves

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• Rake

Directions

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1. Before reshaping an evergreen shrub, first remove any wilted, dead, or diseased branches. Branches that are discolored or have a visible wound on the wood should go.

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2. Branches that cross over other established branches should also be removed.

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3. Make all cuts back to the wood bud on the branch or main trunk.

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4. Trim to set the shape of the evergreen for both hight and width. If the shape is already established and you’re just cleaning it up, move on to the next step.

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5. Thin the branches on the outside of the plant so that light and air can circulate throughout the shrub.

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6. Clean up the trimmings by raking dead and trimmed branches from underneath the shrub.

Follow these easy steps when pruning evergreen shrubs to keep your plants looking great all year.