REJUVENATING DECIDUOUS SHRUBS UNDERWAY

Many landscape shrubs naturally grow larger than the desired height for the space where they were planted. When keeping them pruned to the appropriate height, these shrubs may appear twiggy and ugly over time, especially in the winter when deciduous shrubs lose their leaves. 

To correct these issues, we have adopted rejuvenation pruning to bring them back into size and shape. Sometimes, this can be achieved by thinning pruning, but other times it may be necessary to cut them down to the ground and allowed to regrow at a shorter height and more naturally.

The problem is that when we make the cutback, it looks like we killed the plants. However, don’t worry as they always grow back and look much better throughout the season. Depending on the type of shrub, rejuvenation pruning will occur either annually or every two to three years.

Again, this may appear drastic. However, over the past few years of implementing this philosophy in our winter deciduous pruning practices, we are seeing healthier, more natural looking shrubs maintained at their desired height in the landscape. 

We perform rejuvenation pruning annually on shrubs such as Barberry, Abelia, Spirea, and Dogwood. We do this every two to three years for shrubs like Willow, Hydrangea, Euonymus, and Forsythia.