Pruning Evergreens: Early Spring Perennial Care and Summer Shaping
Pruning evergreens can feel a little nerve-wracking, especially when the plant has been in your landscape for years and you do not want to cut too much. The goal is not to make every shrub look perfectly shaped. The goal is to clean up winter damage, guide healthy growth, and help the plant keep a natural form that works in your landscape.
Pruning Evergreens in Early Spring
Timing matters when it comes to pruning evergreen shrubs. The Good Earth’s own pruning guide recommends pruning boxwoods, hollies, and other broadleaf evergreen shrubs in spring after they flush out for the season, with light selective trimming possible during summer. Their March gardening calendar also notes that boxwoods, hollies, and other evergreen shrubs can be pruned in March or early April.
For Arkansas gardeners, that means it is smart to look at the plant first before cutting. If the evergreen has winter damage, uneven growth, or branches growing into walkways, a careful trim may help. Just avoid taking off too much at once, since some evergreens do not fill back in quickly after heavy pruning.
How to Prune Evergreen Shrubs Without Overdoing It
When pruning evergreen shrubs, start small. Make a few selective cuts, step back, and look at the shape before cutting more. This helps you avoid the common mistake of taking off too much and ending up with bare spots or an unnatural shape.
A few things to look for before pruning:
- Dead or damaged branches
- Uneven growth
- Branches blocking walkways or windows
- Winter-burned tips
- Areas that need light shaping
For many evergreen bushes, gentle shaping works better than hard shearing. If you are not sure how much to prune, it is better to ask before making the first cut.
Early Spring Perennial Care
Early spring perennial care is usually about cleanup, not overworking the plant. The Good Earth’s February gardening calendar recommends cleaning up evergreen perennials before new growth begins, and their perennial pruning tips mention removing old growth, dead leaves, and spent material to make room for healthy new growth.
Walk through the bed and look for old stems, dead foliage, winter damage, weeds, and areas where mulch may need to be refreshed. This small cleanup can make the garden look better and help new growth come through more clearly.
Summer Shaping on Broadleaf Evergreens
Although the bulk of pruning for Broadleaf Evergreens should be done in early spring – you can lightly and selectively trim them up a bit in the summer. Pruning in early summer allows them to regrow, harden off, and avoid potential damage from fall frost and colder temperatures in winter. You’ll want to avoid cutting into areas that have bare wood and instead trim up closer to where the foliage is. Again, this is not a haircut – just a little light trim!
How to Prune Needleleaf Evergreens
Needleleaf evergreens do not require very much pruning. The only time you will want to prune these trees is when you are dealing with dead or diseased branches – in which case you will want to cut back a branch to its point or origin whether that be to the main stem or a health branch that it’s growing off of.
Since junipers, yews, arborvitae, chamaecyparis, pines, cryptomeria and cedars generally do not have live buds on old wood – you will want to avoid cutting the shoots all the way back to the old wood. If you’re pruning to alter the shape or size – just keep the pruning light and limit it to a portion of new growth! A quick note on Densiformis Yews – if you are using them as a hedge they will need to be trimmed and maintained a little more often!
However, if you are pruning a needleleaf evergreen for corrective reasons – you will want to make sure you do that when the tree is still young – because once they are grown, corrective pruning won’t be able to be done without destroying the natural shape of the tree. If a young needleleaf evergreen tree has abnormally long internodes – you can pinch off one half of the new growth on the lateral branches in early June!
A Few Arkansas Pruning Reminders
Arkansas weather can be unpredictable in early spring, so pruning evergreens should be done with the plant and timing in mind. The Good Earth’s spring pruning tips also remind gardeners not to prune every plant the same way and to avoid removing too much at once.
Before pruning, ask yourself:
- Is this plant evergreen or deciduous?
- Does it bloom in spring?
- Am I removing damage, shaping, or cutting back old growth?
- Will this cut help the plant or just make it smaller?
If you are unsure, pause before pruning. Some plants need to be cut back early, while others should wait until after blooming. For more local plant care guidance, the University of Arkansas Extension also shares helpful tips on pruning evergreen shrubs before making major cuts.
Visit The Good Earth for Pruning and Plant Help
Need help with pruning evergreens, choosing new perennial plants, or getting your landscape ready for spring? If you are unsure about pruning evergreens in your own landscape, visit The Good Earth Garden Center in Little Rock for seasonal gardening advice, plant recommendations, pruning tools, soil amendments, and help from a team that knows Arkansas landscapes.