When is the Perfect Time to Prune and Trim your Evergreen Shrubs in Denver?

In the month of July, it is the right time to prune or trim evergreen bushes in your yard.

Why?

By July, they should have already completely most of their seasonal growth - at least 90 percent. The most essential feature of pruning is to know when you should prune your plants. Appropriate timing will help to ensure that your plants are healthy, productive and attractive. Below is a guide of the pruning and trimming suggestions for specific shrubs.

Deciduous Shrubs

Many of the deciduous shrubs such as broadleaf evergreen, forsythia and lilac that have been planted on your property tend to thrive in a our Colorado landscape. During the spring, you will typically find your shrubs blooming from growth that took place in the previous season. For shrubs that have flowered in the spring and summer, the time to prune will usually depend on the shrub’s current condition and the amount of potential pruning they need - evergreen shrubs in particular, are best to prune during the month of July.

After Neglect

If the flowering shrubs are neglected in the spring or summer, they may need extensive trimming and pruning in order to renew or rejuvenate the plants. The ideal time for major plant rejuvenation on overgrown shrubs is during the late winter months or the early spring months prior to the plant’s leaf out phase.

Heavy Pruning

If you did heavy pruning in the latter part of winter or early period of spring, it will eliminate or reduce your floral display for just a few years. However, restoring your shrubs back to health is more important. Never try to prune your deciduous shrubs in the middle of summer. Try to do so in August, encouraging a delayed flush of growth.

Evergreen Shrubs

Whether you have needle bearing or broadleaf evergreen shrubs, you should try to prune after new growth emerges in the springtime. After all, it is primarily new growth that provides an opportunity for the shaping of your hedges, assuming that you were already making sure that the hedges were maintained all this time. If the branches to be trimmed are sufficiently small, you can use a shearer with a hedger. Prior to when the new growth starts for your evergreen shrubs like yew or juniper, pruning is actually best performed in the latter weeks of March to the early weeks of April. Try to avoid doing so in the fall. Your evergreen shrubs could become injured by the colder temperatures when they were recently pruned.

Modern Roses

For the upper section of modern roses, low winter temperature exposure or drastic changes in temperature will kill the plants during the winter if pruned during the season prior. Therefore, the dead wood should be pruned in the late summer to keep things healthy. Any roses that bloom throughout the entire summer should be pruned in the month of March to early April, with minor pruning throughout the summer to maintain shape and health.

If you want to have your evergreen shrubs pruned or trimmed, speak to the tree and shrub health management specialists at Denver Tree Services or contact us today for an appointment or consultation at 303-639-8584.