The Importance of Shrub Trimming for Yard Health & Aesthetics

The funny thing about landscaping is that, while people may not realize it, everything is done on purpose. Even something as seemingly trivial as trimming your shrubs is done a specific way and for a specific reason. One of the main priorities of landscaping is to protect your plants and help them grow. But can something so insignificant as shrub trimming really contribute that much to your yard’s overall health and aesthetic? The short answer: Yes. Shrub Trimming: Why Do We Do It?
Benefits For Plant Health Believe it or not, there are more health benefits that come as a result of shrub trimming than you think:

• Trimming removes dead, diseased, or injured plant parts and minimizes the potential for secondary or opportunistic pests.
• Shrub trimming also helps you control the growth by size/density.
• Pruning allows for more light, water, and nutrient penetration, which yields more flowering and fruit production.
• Overgrown, sparse, or leggy shrubs can become rejuvenated following a trim.

Think of it like getting a haircut. We trim our hair frequently to ensure we have no dead ends, dryness, or lackluster appearance. In the same way your hair bounces back to life after a fresh trim, you’ll also see that vigor returns to your plants. Aesthetic Improvements When most people think of trimming shrubs, they imagine making them into fancy shapes. While this is definitely possible, it’s not the only aesthetic benefit to trimming your shrubs. Some homeowners just prefer an orderly appearance. But that new-found vigor and lushness you achieved post-trim also add lots of color and vibrancy to your yard, especially if your shrubs begin to flower. Incorporating Shrub Trimming Into Your Landscape Design
When to Trim The difficult thing about having shrubs is that you have them all year long–this can make seasonal care confusing if you don’t know what you’re doing. Generally, you want to trim your flowering shrubs immediately after bloom and your non-flowering shrubs in late winter or early spring. You don’t want to trim either one after August, though, as this can encourage new growth that will not survive the winter, and you’ll have to remove those branches next spring if they get damaged. Shrub Trends Shrubbery is primarily an aesthetic choice, so it’s important to keep up with current shrubbery trends in order to enhance the look of your yard. Here’s what’s currently trending:

• Biodiversity Integration: What with folks attempting to improve climate change issues, biodiversity promotion tactics such as planting a variety of shrubs, including wildlife friendly features in their gardens, and planting shrub varieties that are resilient to local weather conditions aid in the biodiversity integration process.
• Greenery Walls: Walls of greenery have been trending for a long time, especially in social media photos–but why have a turf-lined wall if you could have a wall of real greenery right in your backyard?
• Vertical Shrubbery in Urban Environments: With the housing market providing less opportunities for large yards, and the expansion of urban development, people are trying to reinvent the vertical space in urban environments. If planting vertical shrubbery is the only way to get greens in the city, then so be it!
• Low Maintenance Shrubs: Low maintenance shrubs have always been a trend, and people are particularly looking for drought-resistant, self-sustaining varieties that are compatible with city-living and could sustain their own little ecosystem.
• Edible Shrubs: As agricultural elements boom in popularity and people begin to revert back to more traditional ways of eating and self-sufficient lifestyles, fruit-bearing plants are not only beautiful, but they’re also practical, productive, and purposeful.
• Creative Pruning: As previously mentioned, creative pruning will always be a trend. No matter what shape your hedges take, they will be beautiful and fun.

Using Shrub Trimmings In Your Garden
How To Recycle Trimmings There are lots of sustainable ways to reuse your shrub trimmings, so you don’t have to worry about being stuck with all this green material you’ll never use! Here are some easy ones:

• Compost: Shrub trimmings work with all kinds of composts, whether you’re trench composting, building your own compost bin, or simply storing them in a heap in your backyard. Composting helps with soil health, plant growth, and water conservation, among other things.
• Mulch: If you have access to a domestic shredder, you can shred the clippings to create a mulch to spread over your soil. Mulch has many benefits, including moisture retention, frost protection, and weed prevention.
• Recycling Points: There are also local garden waste recycling points if you’re not going to use your trimmings but don’t want to keep them lying around. Your local municipal recycling website will tell you if there’s one near you.

Conclusion I’m sure you’re surprised that there are so many benefits to shrub trimming! The wonderful thing about landscaping is that nothing ever has to go to waste if you’re doing it right. Now that you know of the importance of shrub trimming for both plant health and aesthetics, it will be easy to incorporate it into your landscaping routine.