Few things are more frustrating than a messy front yard. In addition to disrupting your curb appeal, overgrown, messy landscaping can also harbor pests and make it look like you don't care about your property. Fortunately, tidying up your yard doesn't have to be difficult. I have spent years learning more about landscaping, and this blog is all about how to become a landscaping enthusiast. Check out these articles about fun topics like planting flowers, perfecting pruned trees, and decorating your yard with whimsical additions. After you know more about landscaping, your yard might become the talk of the town.
Shrubs can be a gorgeous and functional part of your landscaping. However, they do require pruning or trimming in order to maintain their good looks over the years. Most shrubs will do okay being pruned once a year, although some faster-growing shrubs can benefit from being pruned twice a year. If you choose to prune your own shrubs rather than hire a landscaping service to do it, here are some tips that should come in handy.
Put a tarp down, first.
Cleaning up all of the trimmings from a shrub can take a lot of time. To make things easier on yourself, put a tarp down around the shrub before you start trimming. Push the tarp up against the shrub's trunk and under its lower branches so it fully covers the ground immediately under the shrub. This way, after you trim the shrub, you can gently pull the tarp out and empty all of the branches off of it.
Trim dead wood out of the base.
The first thing you should be removing from the shrub is any branches that are dead. You can usually tell, more easily, which branches are dead by looking straight into the shrub from the side. Use small clippers to clip out dead branches as close to their origin point as possible. Removing the whole branch, in this way, is better for the shrub than removing just the ends. It thins out the interior so that the deeper growth can receive more sunlight.
Thin the crown.
After you've removed the dead branches, look for areas where the shrub's growth looks too thick. In these areas, identify a few smaller branches you can prune away. Still prune them away at their origin point on the thicker branch or stem that they are growing from. Prune one branch at a time, and look over the shrub after each branch is removed to ensure you're not removing too much.
Finish with shears.
Finally, you can use shears to give the shrub a final shaping. Go slow, and don't remove any more than you need to. People often find it easiest to trim the sides of the shrub and then the top. Electric shears or gas shears make this easier, but you can use hand-powered ones if they're all you have.
With the tips above, you can do a better job of trimming your shrubs. If this seems like a bit too much, don't hesitate to hire a landscaping professional instead. Contact a company like Loof's Landscaping LLC to learn more.
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