For centuries gardeners have been pruning trees and shrubs as a way of defining areas of their property. A beautiful wall of greenery is less expensive to construct than a wall of brick or stone!
Few plants can return so much for so little attention as shrubs, which are long-lasting, colorful, cold-hardy, fast-growing, drought-tolerant, pest-resistant and much much more.
Shrubs can work so well in a mixed border, and give you good structure and a good look through several seasons — even when they’re not blooming.They’re really great green furniture for our gardens.
If Mother Nature had intended shrubs to be square, she would make them that way. But we humans persist in trying to turn a free -growing plant into geometric perfection.
Europeans have been shearing for centuries. But the problem is that shearing shrubs into boxes, rectangles, balls and pyramids turns into a lot of work.
Ideally, the plant chosen for shearing should be capable of greening back up if it has to be reduced in size.
The most ideal plants for shearing are boxwood, holly, yew, privet, pyracantha, box honeysuckle, followed by some santolinas and some finely needled evergreens such as junipers and hemlocks.
The boxwood is a bushy, evergreen shrub or miniature tree with small, glossy, green leaves. It grows slowly and densely which makes it an ideal plant for designing small animal shapes.
The yew is a slow-growing evergreen that easily retains shape and angle. Yew can be used to make large animal shapes and the golden yew is especially useful for accenting.
The privet plant thrives in shady areas and tolerates a wide range of soil types. It is quick-growing and there are fifty species of the plant.
Choosing the right range of trees and shrubs from small to medium in size can create a strong sense of garden without all that much work
Other plants such as forsythia and philadelphus are tough enough to withstand tight shearing but the leaves are too large and, therefore, are not as attractive when sheared.
The best hedging plants reliably make leaf buds on old wood, that is, on previous years’ growth instead of sprouting only on new branches.
This way, if you cut back older sections, new leaves will sprout readily. Boxwood , English holly, common myrtle, English laurel, copper beech, and Irish yew should also bud from the bottom to the top so that there is leaf coverage all the way up
All shapes, no matter what they are, should be cut in an angle wider at the base and narrower at the top. If you do the opposite, wider at the top and thinner at bottom, sunlight never hits the bottom leaves.
It is wise to research the hardiness of the shrub before attempting it. Ideally, the plant chosen for shearing should be capable of greening back up if it has to be reduced in size.
The best hedging plants reliably make leaf buds on old wood, that is, on previous years’ growth instead of sprouting only on new branches. This way, if you cut back older sections, new leaves will sprout readily
Shearing should not be done in place of pruning shrubs, as pruning is much healthier for the plant.
In natural pruning you prune out whole branches that support the unwanted foliage. This encourages new limbs to be produced from the base of the plant or low on the trunk.
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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener
