Pruning Evergreens

PRUNING EVERGREENS

When Is The Right Time To Prune My Evergreens?

By the time you reach the heat of the summer most of your evergreens have slowed if not for the most part stopped their growth for the year. Due to this it is the most ideal time to prune your evergreens. It is also better to prune now as you will only have to do one pruning for the season as your evergreens won't put on much more growth until the following spring. If you pruned in the spring you would typically have to prune again sometime later on as the evergreens would put on more growth that year after your first pruning.

For pruning it is a matter of shearing or hand clipping the extra growth off of the plant. This pruning process accomplishes two things. It makes the plant look better, and helps to maintain the size and shape of the plant.

For upright evergreens, prune so that the top point is rounded or pointed. This helps to shed off winter snow. Then prune down all sides evenly creating a wider base than the top. This allows even distribution of sunlight and better all around growth. Do not start to prune tightly into the trunk once you reach the base of the plant. Rather follow an imaginary line down the side of the evergreen to the ground pruning anything off outside of that line.

For spreading junipers, the use of a hand clipper rather than a shear will help to maintain the natural spreading habit. These plants do not do well if sheared in rounded shapes. Control the size of spreading junipers by going inward on branches and removing main pieces of branches down inside. This will generate new growth within and keep the plant to a smaller size. Basically try and clip out a few of the longer branches to a point that is hidden behind some of the smaller branches. This way your cuts are hidden until the new growth forms. 

For globe shaped evergreens, prune rounding from the top down so the snow will not stay on top and once again make sure that you do not prune all the way into the trunk near the base. Rather than pruning right to the base, prune straight down to the ground. The plants will look better and not have that leggy look at the base.

By doing this pruning now, the plants will respond with a very light new growth, which will keep them looking healthy and fresh year round.

Evergreens that have been pruned very early probably need it again now. Evergreens that are pruned late in the fall do not have proper buds developed for next year's growth.