Ornamental Tree, Shrub, and Hedge Pruning
Shaping plants for style and function is an art and a science.
Ornamental trees and shrubs serve many functions in the landscape. Focal points in the garden, shade for a patio area, hedges to define spaces and screen views, or the simple beauty of a flowering tree are just a few examples. The proper installation and maintenance of these trees and shrubs are what will determine the plant’s success. Everyone has seen shrubs that engulf walkways and cover windows, trees that become a liability when planted under power lines or too close to the house, or shrubs that showcase dead limbs and a poor shape. After designing and installing your landscape, we use skilled pruning to ensure that your plants will be an asset to your landscape now and in the future.
Good Roots takes pride in providing high quality pruning services. Skilled pruning results in plants that flower and fruit more abundantly, are less prone to winter damage, are more resistant to pests and diseases, are kept to an appropriate size for their space, and showcase their natural beauty.
Some functional pruning practices include the removal of dead, damaged, diseased branches and those that are poorly structured. Selective thinning allows additional sunlight to the interior of the plant and also improves air circulation. When the foliage of plants grows and comes into contact with a home or structure, it can hold excess moisture which can lead to water damage. We remove these offending branches as part of the pruning process.
Aesthetic pruning and shaping practices include removing the lower limbs and thinning the foliage on certain trees to showcase their bark or branching structure, shearing tightly clipped hedges in a formal garden, reducing or maintaining the size of an ornamental tree to keep it in scale with the house and its surroundings, and selective pruning which emphasizes a plant’s ornamental features (promoting a weeping form, encouraging a horizontal structure that increases flowering and fruiting, or creating an umbrella like shape for a shade tree over a patio are a few examples). Whether you are after a naturalistic look for your woodland garden or need help keeping the crisp lines on your boxwood hedge, let us help. We will adapt the pruning style to your objectives and the needs of the specific plant.