Shrub & Hedge Trimming in Richmond, VA

Flowering shrubs look better and bloom more when they're thinned with hand pruners and loppers rather than sheared into balls. Thinning cuts remove whole branches back to a main stem or the ground, which opens the shrub to light and keeps its natural shape. Azaleas, forsythia, lilac and other spring bloomers are pruned right after they finish flowering, because Virginia Cooperative Extension notes their flowers form on the previous season's wood. Pruning them in fall or winter cuts off next spring's display.

When a branch does need shortening rather than removing, Extension's guidance is to cut back to a bud that points outward, so new growth heads away from the center and the inside of the shrub doesn't get too dense. Done well, the cuts are hard to spot a few weeks later.

Cutting crape myrtles back to thick stubs every winter comes from a misconception that they need it to bloom. Extension calls the result "crape murder" and topping an unacceptable practice. Extension's calendar puts crape myrtle pruning in January through March and warns that fall or early-winter cuts can reduce its winter hardiness. Proper pruning removes crossing branches, suckers at the base and the odd limb growing into the house, and leaves the trunks alone. If a crape myrtle is always too big for its spot, the fix is a smaller variety, not a saw.

Shrubs that have swallowed a window or walkway can often be brought back rather than pulled out. Extension describes a gradual method over three years: remove a third of the oldest stems the first year, half of the remaining old stems the next, and the rest in the third, while new shoots replace them. The shrub stays presentable the whole time. Abelia, hydrangea, lilac, spirea and rose-of-Sharon tolerate even a harder cut back near the ground. Plants that don't regrow from old wood may be better replaced. For new plants spaced to fit, see planting, mulch and garden beds.