How To Rejuvenate Old Shrubs

Mar 13th 2023

Spring is here. Gone are the short days of fall and winter. Spring is the ideal time to enjoy the outdoors and take stock of your outdoor landscape. The changing seasons bring new tree and shrub growth, providing North Central Florida residents with colorful, vibrant yards and gardens. Shrubs and trees can bear flowers and fruit, adding character to any property. But it’s important to aid them in this effort, particularly older shrubs. Rejuvenating old shrubs can allow them to continually provide an aesthetically pleasing environment for your home or business. When it’s time to prune, count on our lawn care company in Gainesville, FL, for all of your lawn maintenance, pruning, and landscaping needs.

Evergreen Lawn Care is a full-service lawn care company offering high-quality services in Gainesville and Jonesville, FL. Contact us today to request a free estimate and to learn more about our commercial and residential landscaping services!

Choose The Right Time To Prune Shrubs

Caring for shrubs, whether new or old, is essential to maintaining healthy, thriving plants. Spring is the ideal time to examine the health of your landscape’s shrubs. If mature shrubs are not maintained properly, they can quickly become wild and overgrown, pose an eyesore, and obstruct walkways and paths. When old shrubs appear tattered, they may still have life left in them. Removing and replacing old shrubs may be necessary if they are dead or diseased. Yet, rejuvenating old shrubs is a better and more cost-effective option when possible. When it comes to pruning shrubs, particularly older, more mature shrubs, timing is a critical factor.

Performed at the right time, shrub pruning can help limit damage to old shrubs. However, cutting shrubs back at the wrong time can impact foliage production and flower growth. Any old shrub designated for rejuvenation pruning should occur in early spring before new growth comes in. Most trees and shrubs remain dormant throughout the late winter and early spring, which are the perfect times to prune shrubs that bloom in the summer and fall seasons. For flowering shrubs and trees, such as azaleas, lilacs, and roses, prune them after their blooms start dying off. Pruning may be performed during the spring or summer months, depending on the type of flowering shrub.

How To Prune Old Shrubs

Rejuvenating ver old shrubs with large swaths of dead growth may require hard pruning. Hard pruning leaves a stub that measures only 6–12 inches up from the ground. Hard pruning for shrubs should be performed in the spring before the buds open and done using a long-handled pruner. Heavy pruning can be highly stressful for shrubs, so they will require significant attention for the first 1–2 years thereafter.  Ensure that pruned shrubs are watered regularly and fully, and continue to observe them during this time for any signs of disease and pests. 

Diseased leaves and branches should also be removed from shrubs during pruning. Remove the oldest shoots from shrubs and trees that bloom in spring to promote new blooms in the coming year. Regular pruning and maintenance of shrubs, performed each year or so, can help prevent shrubs from dying, overgrowing, and becoming diseased. Our Gainesville, FL, landscaping experts can assist you with this process and provide options for organic, natural fertilizer to support new shrub growth. Because shrub pruning can render the plant susceptible to pests and further weakening, it’s critical not to stress them further. 

Our lawn care packages from Evergreen Lawn Care can help keep your Gainesville years and shrubs healthy and attractive year-round. Contact us today to schedule pruning and landscaping services for healthier, more beautiful shrubs and trees.