![]() When using shears to clip a hedge, follow this tip from Bradley: Always work upward from the bottom of the hedge to prevent the prunings from becoming entangled in the uncut branches. If you have rows of hedges that require shearing, consider investing in an electric or gas-powered hedge trimmer equipped with a lock button to prevent operation of the tool if you release the switch. Use hand pruners for selective heading, and hand shears, which have longer blades than pruners, for nonselective cuts. “Although shearing a plant may take little time, the tidy appearance vanishes very quickly, and shearing locks the practitioner into frequent reshearing.” Tools and techniques: ![]() “Shearing is a high-maintenance chore,” says Cass Turnbull, in her Guide to Pruning. Because shearing stimulates dense growth at the ends of branches, it should be reserved for shrubs that can tolerate repeated grooming, such as boxwoods. Nonselective heading cuts shorten the length of a branch by cutting it back to no place in particular. Selective cuts are made by cutting back a branch or twig close to a bud to reduce a shrub’s height while retaining its natural form. There are two types of heading cuts: selective and nonselective. This often promotes fresh new growth and sporadic reblooming. Give your dianthus and other spring-flowering perennials a mid-season boost by cutting them back after blooming to about half their size. To avoid overthinning, follow this advice from master gardener coordinator Sandra Mason, with University of Illinois Extension: Spray paint or tie a colorful ribbon around the branches you plan to remove to help you visualize what will be remaining. Branch removal will be less stressful to the plant when it’s dormant, and you’ll be able to see the structure of the branches more clearly, allowing you to identify damaged branches or areas that require thinning. The best time to thin a shrub is late fall to early spring. Related: How to Care for Garden Tools When to make thinning cuts: For all your pruning jobs, use high-quality tools with clean, sharp blades ( Felco is a reliable brand), and be sure to match the tool to the task at hand to avoid damage to both the branch and the tool. You may also want to invest in a long-arm pruner (a 6- to 10-foot-long telescoping pole with a pruner at the tip) to remove high branches without standing on a ladder. To cut through thicker branches, upgrade to a lopper (essentially a pruner with heavier blades and longer handles) or a pruning saw. To make a clean cut without crushing or bruising the branch, use bypass pruners with overlapping blades rather than single-bladed anvil-type pruners. For thin stems and branches (up to ½ inch in diameter), you can easily cut through them with a hand pruner or small pruning knife. This will promote better healing of the cut surface. When making your cuts, remove the entire shoot or branch completely by cutting back to sound, healthy tissue, close to a branch node or bud. When done properly, thinning will preserve the natural form of a plant rather than stimulate a new flush of growth. Photo by: Adrian Muttitt / Alamy Stock Photo. For plants with buds arranged directly opposite from one another, make a flat cut at a right angle to the stem just above a pair of buds. For plants with buds arranged alternately (with one bud higher on one side than the other), make sloping cuts angled up from the bud. ![]() ![]() When pruning shrubs, always make your cuts just above a bud.
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