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Shrub and hedge trimming in Greeley
Overgrown foundation plantings, hedges, ornamental shrubs and the junipers that have swallowed the front window.
Shearing versus pruning
Most shrubs in Greeley are sheared, and most of them would be better off pruned.
Shearing cuts everything to an outline. It creates a dense shell of growth on the surface, which shades out the interior until the shrub is hollow inside with a thin green skin. Right for formal hedges, wrong for almost everything else.
Pruning removes selected stems at their origin, keeping light moving through the plant. It takes longer, and the shrub stays healthy and full for decades rather than becoming a woody frame with leaves on the outside.
We do both. We will tell you which one your plants actually want.
Timing, by shrub type
Getting this wrong is why people say their lilac never blooms.
Spring bloomers — lilac, forsythia, spirea, mockorange, viburnum — set their flower buds the previous summer. Prune them right after they finish flowering. Prune in spring and you cut off the year's flowers before they open.
Summer bloomers — potentilla, blue mist spirea, rose of Sharon — flower on new growth, so prune in late winter or early spring.
Evergreens — juniper, arborvitae, yew — late spring as new growth begins. Critical point: most conifers will not regenerate from old bare wood, so never cut back past the green. That cut stays bare permanently.
Foundation junipers. Half the 1970s ranch houses in Greeley have junipers planted two feet from the wall that are now four feet across and pressing on the siding. They cannot be cut back — there is no green left on the inner wood to regrow from. The honest options are removal and replanting, or living with them.
Renovation pruning
For a badly overgrown deciduous shrub that still has life in it, hard renovation often works. Cut the whole plant to six to twelve inches in late winter and let it rebuild from the base, or take a third of the oldest stems out each year for three years for a gentler version.
Lilac, forsythia, dogwood, spirea and honeysuckle all tolerate this well. Conifers do not tolerate it at all.
Clearance and fire
Two practical reasons this work matters beyond appearance. Shrubs against siding trap moisture and give insects a bridge into the structure. And on any property near open ground, foundation shrubs are Zone 1 fuel — the first five feet around a house is where embers start fires. See wildfire mitigation.
Questions we get about this
When should I trim my lilac?
Right after it finishes flowering in spring. Lilacs set next year's flower buds the previous summer, so pruning in late winter or spring removes the flowers before they open.
Can I cut my overgrown juniper back hard?
No. Junipers and most conifers will not regenerate from bare old wood, so anything cut past the green stays bare permanently. For a juniper that has outgrown its space, removal and replanting is usually the only real option.
My shrub is hollow in the middle. Can it be fixed?
Often, if it is deciduous. Renovation pruning either cuts the whole plant back hard in late winter, or removes a third of the oldest stems each year for three years. Lilac, forsythia, dogwood and spirea all respond well.
How often do hedges need trimming?
Formal sheared hedges usually twice a season, in early summer and again in late summer. Informal shrubs need selective pruning once a year or less.
Do you haul the clippings?
Yes, included. See brush removal if you have accumulated material beyond the current job.