It depends on the type of shrubbery you have: pruning shrubs grown for their floral displays requires a different mindset than does pruning those grown for their evergreen needles.

You’ll also want to keep cutting back privet to remove damaged or dead branches.

Most deciduous shrubs that respond well to renewal pruning can also take hard pruning, as will a handful of broadleaf evergreens, such as privet.

Hand pruners … Hard prune the growth on the weaker side, prioritising any dead, diseased or damaged stems, so that the growth from all the shorter branches is reduced in length by about a half. The first step in privet hedge pruning is to trim out crossing branches. Pruning a Yew Shrub.

Plants that require rejuvenation can be hard pruned or pruned gradually. If you want to learn about pruning yew bushes, including how to prune an overgrown yew, read on. How to Prune an Overgrown Yew Shrub. Hedges: pruning times. Different hedges are best trimmed at different times of year. Hedges require formative pruning on planting, plus maintenance trimming to keep them within bounds.

Hard pruning involves cutting the shrub off to a height of 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30.5 cm.) How to Trim Overgrown Hedges.

Rejuvenation pruning is the removal of old, overgrown limbs so that the plant can grow new, vigorous branches in their place. What is hard pruning? Pruning times vary depending on the type of hedge. This should encourage more vigorous growth on the weaker side. Neglected shrubs may call for a more drastic approach: hard pruning.

Yews (Taxus spp.) When pruning mature, overgrown shrubs, remove the thickest branches first. When's the best time to prune shrubs? above the ground and allowing it to regrow.

(For more on the correct tools to use, see Lilac bushes will typically flower without any effort from you.

But pruning doesn't end when hedges …

Even the question of what's the best time to prune flowering bushes, specifically, can't be answered without breaking "flowering bushes" down into two categories. Hedges can be formal or informal. Cut them back to the base of the shrub to promote new growth. However, if left to grow and spread on their own, common lilacs will eventually only flower on … 3 Where one stem branches into two, cut just above the Y-shaped split. Hedges. 2 Find long stems that grow out of hedge, and snip them close to the ground. It is also a method of pruning fruit trees such as apple/pear down to 3 buds for structure. When a shrub is lopsided, hard pruning on the weak side should help that side to fill in. Gardeners who want thick hedges can train shrubs with frequent pruning when the shrubs are young. Once you finish this, remove several large branches from the inside of each shrub to open up the center of the hedge. 1 Use loppers to remove one-third of the older stems, so sunlight can penetrate the hedge's interior. Using loppers and a pruning saw, cut back all stems to within an inch of the ground during the plant's winter dormancy. The first question when you are pruning yew bushes is when to pick up the pruners. Remove them at their base with loppers. A hedge trimmer with extended reach and a pivoting cutting head simplifies trimming tall hedges and shrubs as well as hard-to-reach areas of the plant. Pruning helps encourage plant growth, flowering and …
Some string trimmers accept hedge trimmer attachments with this functionality.

These are often used in hedges. A hedge which has been pruned hard should be fertilised and watered deeply to give the plant the nutrients and water to support vigorous new growth – particularly as it now has few leaves with which to photosynthesise and produce its own energy. It is defined used primarily when referring to shrubs, as in the cutting of main stems of a large shrub to about 6-12″ above the ground so as to promote vigorous growth of newer and healthier stems.

Sometimes overgrown shrubs can be “elevated” by pruning them up to resemble small specimen trees. Unlike some conifers, yews usually respond well to pruning.
Most flowering shrubs need regular pruning to keep them vibrant, and the common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is no exception. 4 Continue cutting older stems, but leave new growth.

Garden Ninja uses the example of a Photinia bush that has become overgrown and unproductive. Without this extra care, a hedge may struggle to recover from a very hard prune. Credit: RHS/Advisory. are long-lived evergreens that can reach 40 feet tall, depending on species, when grown as trees. Hard pruning results in vigorous regrowth.