Shrub & Hedge Trimming

Benefits of Professional Shrub Trimming

Many Santa Fe homeowners tackle shrub trimming themselves, but there is a big difference between hacking away with hedge trimmers and professional pruning that enhances plant health and appearance. Improper trimming can damage shrubs, create unattractive bare patches, and even kill plants if done at the wrong time or too severely.

Here is what professional shrub and hedge trimming provides:

• Enhanced curb appeal with crisp, clean lines and uniform growth that makes your entire property look cared for
• Healthier plants through proper pruning techniques that encourage strong growth and air circulation
• Disease prevention by removing dead, diseased, or crossing branches where problems start
• Controlled growth keeping shrubs at the desired size without shocking the plant
• Improved flowering for blooming shrubs through proper timing and technique
• Maintained privacy by keeping screening plants dense and full at the right height

Our Professional Trimming Approach

Every shrub species has specific trimming requirements for optimal health and appearance. What works for junipers does not work for flowering shrubs like lilacs and roses. We tailor our approach to each plant type in your landscape, using techniques that bring out the best in every shrub.

Formal Hedge Trimming

Formal hedges require precise, uniform trimming to maintain their architectural shape. We use professional equipment to create straight lines, smooth curves, and consistent height across your entire hedge. Whether you have boxwood, privet, or evergreen hedges, we maintain the formal look you want while ensuring the plants remain healthy and full all the way to the bottom.

Natural Form Pruning

Not every shrub should look like a green box or ball. Many shrubs look best when trimmed to enhance their natural growth habit. We selectively remove branches to control size, improve shape, and encourage the graceful, natural form that makes shrubs attractive. This approach works especially well for native New Mexico plants and flowering shrubs.

Rejuvenation Pruning

Overgrown, neglected shrubs often need more than a simple trim. Rejuvenation pruning involves more aggressive cutting to reduce size dramatically and stimulate fresh, vigorous growth. This technique can bring old, woody shrubs back to life, though it requires patience as plants recover and fill in over the following growing season.

Timing and Frequency for Santa Fe

When you trim matters almost as much as how you trim. The right timing promotes healthy growth and abundant flowering, while trimming at the wrong time can eliminate this year's blooms or expose tender new growth to frost damage.

Spring-flowering shrubs like lilacs and forsythia should be trimmed immediately after they finish blooming. These plants form next year's flower buds on this year's growth, so late-season trimming removes next spring's flowers.

Summer-flowering shrubs bloom on new growth, so they can be trimmed in late winter or early spring before growth begins. This includes roses, potentilla, and many other Santa Fe favorites.

Evergreen shrubs and hedges can be trimmed throughout the growing season as needed to maintain shape. Most evergreens benefit from light shaping 2 to 3 times per year rather than one heavy annual trimming. Our tree trimming services follow similar principles for optimal tree health.

Avoid fall trimming in Santa Fe. Trimming in late summer or fall stimulates new growth that may not harden off before winter, leading to cold damage. The exception is removing dead, diseased, or damaged branches, which can be done any time for plant health.

Frequently Asked Questions