How to Prune Overgrown Hedges

Maintain hedges by pruning them properly.

Although mainly decorative, hedges can be a natural part of your landscape, helping reduce traffic noise in the yard and providing some privacy. Over time, though, hedges grow wildly out of control and look unkempt if they are not pruned properly. Your first may be to just cut what is overgrown, but you should familiarize yourself with the proper way to complete the task of pruning the hedges to keep them looking well-groomed.

Things You'll Need

• Loppers
• Pruning shears
• Lawn waste bags

Instructions

1. Locate the bases of stems that protrude outward and away from the natural shape of the hedge.

2. Clip those stems at the base, as close to the ground as possible, with loppers. This will leave open areas where sunlight can reach the inner branches of the hedge and allow the branches to grow leaves.

3. Thin out branches at the top of the hedge with pruning shears, clipping any "Y"-shaped offshoots. Clip the offshoots close to the "Y" rather than in the middle of the shoot.

4. Bag up clippings in a yard waste bag and dispose of them according to the regulations in your community.

Tips & Warnings

• Prune evergreen hedges in the late spring or early summer. Prune non-evergreen hedges in the late summer or early fall so the hedge is ready for new growth by springtime. You can prune non-evergreen hedges any time you like, but fall pruning is preferable so the hedge does not show too many bare spots throughout the entire summer or spring.

• Apply a shrub fertilizer, according to the manufacturer's instructions at the beginning of the following spring.

References

• This Old House: How to Trim Overgrown Hedges
• University of Rhode Island: Green Share Fact Sheets: Pruning Hedges