Pruning your hedges at the correct time guarantees they flourish to their most elegant form and keeps them from growing too big or overgrown. Hedge trimmers are generally used for formal hedges, and simple pruners are right for any hedge type. Before trimming, sanitize shears in a mixture of water and bleach because diseases are always an issue. So if you are looking for tips on trimming your hedges, see below.

Trimming New Hedges

New hedges usually need pruning after being planted. Hedges are typically planted in spring, or late winter before the plants entirely come alive from dormancy or in fall or summer when they’re energetically growing. Trim spring-planted hedges right after planting before the buds start to break and trim summer-planted hedges late in the summertime after the hedges go dormant.

Flowering Hedges

Orchard Park Tree Tips on Trimming Hedges

Trimming hedge into a more formal shape

Trimming flowering hedges at the wrong time stop the hedges from generating flowers the following season. Spring or summer flowering shrubs are typically cut right after flowering regardless of the season.

If a plant creates flower buds on old wood right after it completes the current season’s bloom, always trim it after flowering. It flowers on new wood it establishes in the springtime. You can prune the hedge after flowering or in the late wintertime before new growth starts.

Evergreen Hedges

Evergreen hedges need trimming back for shape and size in early to mid-springtime. Also, frequent light summer pruning is required to stop large branches or to regulate summer growth. Formal hedges, with neatly shaped and clipped sides, require more recurrent pruning regular through summer. Informal hedges left in their natural shape need just light pruning to eliminate dead wood and to keep their width and height.

Deciduous Hedges

Most deciduous hedges are cultivated as informal hedges, so they need only maintenance pruning in the early springtime right before the new leaf buds start to break. For instance, barberry hedges need to get rid of the dead wood.

Spring rejuvenation trimming keeps these plants healthy and neat, so their usual shape stays gorgeous all summer. Also, you can get a tree specialist to trim out large or broken limbs as needed during the summertime.