Chapter 13: A Very Short Diversion on Pruning Shrubs

I hesitate to even include this chapter in this book. But shrub pruning occupies a great deal of energy and focus within the traditional sub/urban landscape. I decided this chapter provides enough positive outcomes (reduced time/effort, reduced CO₂ emissions, healthier plants) to be worth a quick discussion. My compromise to myself is that I will keep this chapter very short and sweet.

The best shrub pruning plan starts with selecting the right species for the given location. For example, if we want to use a shrub to fill a 6-foot space under a window, we should plant a native species with a maximum height of 6 feet. Do this and we will never have to prune at all!

But in most scenarios, the shrubs are already in place. If a species is too large for its location, we can either remove it and replace it with an appropriately sized native species or perform pruning, knowing we will always have to invest time and resources into battling the plant’s DNA-driven growth objectives.

Assuming we choose to proceed with pruning, we should avoid doing so with hedge trimmers. They are generally the wrong tool because they make it hard to control what or how we are cutting. Indiscriminate cuts lead to an explosion in new growth, which we call the Hydra Effect. This is the opposite of our desired outcome. Now we must shear the shrubs again. This pattern repeats through the growing season, creating a maintenance trap. This is why shrubs sheared with hedge trimmers often have to be cut four to six times (or more) per growing season.

Then we have the matter of plant health. Hedge trimmers cause extensive damage to plants by creating split and jagged ends on branches and leaves. The shrub uses valuable resources to attempt to heal these wounds, as well as to fuel each Hydra Effect. This depletion of resources leads to increased plant stress, a decline in health, and possibly death, especially in the event of a drought or pest outbreak.

Luckily, we have an alternative, which is pruning using bypass pruners and loppers (I will refer to this as hand pruning). Hand pruning allows us to be more careful about where we make cuts, which means branches can properly heal. In addition, we eliminate the Hydra Effect, which saves valuable resources for the shrub. Less damage and more available resources mean the shrub can divert energy towards growing, defending itself from pests, and generally being healthy.

Hand pruning also saves time. Hedge trimmers are often viewed as necessary because they are supposedly faster and more efficient than hand pruning, but this is not true. Hand pruning must only be performed once per year or every other year compared to multiple times per year when using hedge trimmers. If we measure time spent on this task across a full year, we spend less time hand pruning.

Hand pruning is so easy! Let’s learn how to do it. First, the video tutorial:

To begin, we will need the same tools and protective equipment we outlined in the previous chapter about structural pruning. We should also follow the same safety guidelines. All the biology and concepts related to structural pruning apply to shrubs, but with some caveats:

• Shrubs are more forgiving than trees.
• It is often hard to find a branch collar. That is ok—make the cut in the general vicinity.
• It is often impossible to get the tip of the bypass pruners or loppers between the small branches of a shrub. This is ok. Make the cut as close to the ideal target as possible.
• We typically do not need a 3-Cut Method since the branches are tiny and we have no risk of tearing. Pruning is performed with bypass pruners, and occasionally with help from the loppers.

For shrub pruning, we will use two basic cuts that are similar to the ones we used for structural pruning, but with slight differences:

• Removal cut: remove the entire branch at its point of origin, which will either be at the main trunk or at another branch.
• Reduction cut: make the pruning cut back to any side branch.

Now that we know how to make the basic pruning cuts, it is time to apply them. Before we begin, we must set a goal. For trees our goal is to increase their structural stability. But shrubs do not need this. Our shrub pruning goals will generally be based on aesthetics.

The most common goal is to reduce height, reduce width, and tighten the form. To achieve this goal, we should stand 10 feet away from the shrub and stare at it while slightly blurring our eyes and softening our visual focus. What branches are sticking out most? We can pick the five most obvious choices and prune them back to within the interior of the shrub using one of our shrub pruning cuts. Typically, 30 cuts in total will achieve this goal for most shrubs. However, if we want to further tighten the form, we can perform 50 cuts or more. We can repeat this process as many times as we think necessary to achieve our desired form. Repeat this process in one to two years.

That’s it. That’s shrub pruning in a nutshell. When compared to using gas-powered hedge trimmers across a growing season, hand pruning is faster, easier, generates no harmful pollutants, creates no CO₂ emissions, and best of all, yields healthier plants. Have fun hand pruning and remember to take a moment to appreciate the plant’s beauty!