• slide
  • slide
  • slide
  • slide
  • slide
  • slide
  • slide

Unshearing Sheared Evergreens

Tired of constant pruning or need a change from those green gumdrops, hockey pucks and meatballs?  With a bit of time and patience you can convert these back to their natural beauty.

Start the unshearing process in late winter or early spring.  You’ll need a good pair of bypass pruners, loppers and a pruning saw.  And don’t forget the gloves and safety glasses for your protection.

Use renewal pruning to convert multi-stemmed shrubs like forsythia and red twig dogwood back to their natural habit.  Remove a few of the biggest oldest stems to ground level.  Repeat each year.

Multi branched plants are a bit trickier.  Remove a few of the thickest clumps of twiggy growth throughout the sheared plant.  Or remove several of the finer smaller twigs from the twiggy masses.  Or use a combination.  Make cuts back to the main stem.  Repeat yearly until the plant regains its natural appearance.

A bit more information:  Some shrubs tolerate shearing better than others.  When shearing a hedge of planting, keep the base of the plant wider than the top.  This allows light to reach all parts of the plant, preventing naked ankle syndrome; shrubs with no leaves at the bottom and all the greenery at the top of the planting.

Upcoming Live Events
& Webinars


March 27, 2024
FREE WEBINAR

How to Start a Garden for Beginners
Register now

April 3, 2024
Garden Trends 

Franklin Public Library, Franklin, WI

April 10, 2024
FREE WEBINAR

Container Gardening Throughout the Year
Register now

April 11, 2024
FREE WEBINAR

7 Steps to Managing Water Where it Falls in Your Yard
Register now

April 17, 2024
Landscaping for Birds: 
A Gardener’s Perspective

Glendale, WI 

April 18, 2024
Be a Waterwise Gardener
Golden Rondelle Theater, Racine, WI
Register now

April 20, 2024
Pruning Hydrangeas and Other Shrubs 
Pasquesi Home & Gardens, Lake Bluff, IL

April 27, 2024
Ridges & Rivers Book Festival
Viroqua, WI

April 28, 2024
Flowering Trees and Shrubs
Ebert's Greenhouse Village, Ixonia, WI

May 1, 2024
FREE WEBINAR

Ornamental Fruits and Vegetables
Register now

May 9, 2024
FREE WEBINAR

How to Plant Your Rain Garden
Register now

WATCH ON-DEMAND WEBINARS

Learn More

Book an Appearance

Learn More

Enter to Win The Birds & Blooms' Ultimate Gardening Guide !

ENTER NOW