Commercial Landscaping Services Take the Guesswork Out of Pruning

Commercial landscaping services and lawn care services from Landworks make it easy to get your trees and shrubs pruned at the right time. Proper timing helps ensure attractive, healthy, productive plants. Often business owners hire a landscaping company for commercial landscaping services to ensure their landscaping is healthy and well-maintained. 

A benefit to hiring a landscaper for your commercial landscaping services is they can save you hours of time and work by creating a pruning and maintenance schedule based on the plants and shrubbery surrounding your property. The proper time to prune deciduous shrubs, for instance, is determined by the plant’s growth habit, bloom time, and health or condition, so it requires some experience to time correctly. 

February through March is generally accepted to be the best time to prune most deciduous trees.  Pruning deciduous trees at other times of the year generally has few or no negative consequences, but should be avoided in spring when they are leafing out or in fall when they are dropping their leaves if possible.

The exception to this rule is oak trees, which should be pruned in winter from December through February. Oak trees should not be pruned in March through October to reduce the risk of oak wilt, a fungal disease that is lethal to many oaks. 

The best time to prune large, overgrown spring-flowering shrubs is in March or early April.  Heavy pruning in late winter or early spring will reduce or eliminate the flower display for 2 or 3 years, but it will restore the health of the shrubs.

Spring-flowering shrubs like lilac and forsythia bloom in spring on the growth of the past year, and should be pruned immediately after flowering. Light to moderate pruning immediately after flowering lets you enjoy the spring flowers while also allowing enough time for the shrubs to start new flower buds for next season.

Evergreen shrubs such as juniper and yew should be pruned in late March or early April, before new growth begins.  Light pruning in mid-summer is also acceptable. Commercial landscaping services avoid pruning evergreen shrubs in the fall, as fall pruned evergreens are more susceptible to winter injury.

Evergreen trees like pine, spruce, and fir, require little pruning. The best time to remove unwanted lower branches is in late winter, but dead, broken, and diseased branches can be removed at any time. 

There are a few things a landscaper providing commercial landscaping services will look for when determining what needs pruning. Dead, dying, broken, or diseased branches should always be removed. This helps the tree or shrub focus on producing new, healthy growth and prevents the spread of disease to other parts of the plant. Branches that cross or grow inward toward the trunk or central stem should be removed because they can rub together and cause chafing that creates an access point for insects and disease. Long shoots that grow out of the base of a tree or from its roots called “suckers” are a drain of energy on trees, and should be pruned as close to the source as possible.

Landworks customized commercial landscaping services are designed to meet your needs, including mowing, mulching, fertilization programs, irrigation and landscaping services as well as tree and shrub trimming. We provide maintenance solutions to retain and enhance your property’s value in Overland Park and Shawnee, KS as well as the entire Kansas City metro area. 

For more information about landscaping and lawn care services, call Landworks, Inc. at (913) 422-9300. For a free quote, click here.