Trees and shrubs don’t grow like grass. They shouldn’t be trimmed like it either! Groundhog Turf Care provides tree and shrub pruning services that create healthier, more balanced plants.
Many people confuse shearing with pruning. When you call a landscaping company to trim your bushes, they will usually send someone with shears to shape them. However, woody plants don’t grow like grass. When you cut the top off turf grass, more grows up from the roots. With shrubs, the new growth comes out wherever you make the cut. Shearing shrubs creates a shell of foliage that flushes out with new growth every year, demanding to be trimmed!
There is a better way to prune. When you understand how plants grow, then you understand how to prune them. Making a cut to the interior of the plant will produce new growth on the interior – balancing the foliage and opening up “holes” in the crown that allow airflow and light to the center of the plant. More ventilation and light in the center of the plant means less opportunity for fungus and disease to spread. Flowering shrubs have both fruiting wood and vegetative wood, or “suckers.” Knowing which kind of wood to prune out produces better flowering plants.
Natural pruning is an investment. Perhaps the best benefit of natural shrub pruning is the way the tree or shrub responds to it. Over a period of a few seasons, there is less tip growth – no late summer “flush” – and the plant becomes easier to maintain. It’s even possible to skip a year or two after the plant’s growth is under control! The initial cost of pruning a shrub naturally is more than the price to annually shear it. However, when you consider the cost of bi-annual contour pruning as opposed to maintenance cost of shearing every year, the costs equal out over time.
Contour pruning is available to all Groundhog Turf Care customers. If you want natural-looking plants, we can customize a pruning program for your needs and your budget. Please call our office and request a free assessment of your landscape plants.