Being able to take care of your own landscaping is a skill that can provide pride and help you save lots of money. Sometimes, it’s not an easy endeavor to keep everything green and pristine. However, with some practice and good old-fashioned hard work, you can become a great landscaper and help your landscaping flourish. Imagine the satisfaction of having an amazing yard that you created and maintain yourself! Cal Blend Soils Inc. understands that doing things yourself is more than just saving money, it’s a way of life. That’s why we are always committed to providing the best landscaping products at the best possible price. We love sharing the landscaping tips and knowledge that we have picked up on over our decades in business, which is why we’ve created the following article.

Trimming your bushes is an important job for anyone that is looking to handle landscaping on their own. However, it’s not just as simple as cutting back their growth every once in a while. You need to take lots of things into account to master this aspect of landscaping maintenance. Keep reading on to learn the best way to trim your bushes.

1. Choose the Right Time of the Year

Many landscapers will tell you that there is a special time of the year that is best for trimming your bushes. Lots of them will tell you that fall is the best time to handle this landscaping task. The truth is, the Spring is the best time of year to trim your bushes. That’s because it’s much easier to see what exactly is happening with your plants at this time of the year. If you trim your bushes during the time when they are dormant or becoming dormant, you can easily trim too much and do your shrubs a big disservice. Keep the time of year in mind if you really want to master the art of bush trimming.

2. Empower Yourself with the Correct Tools

You definitely want to make sure that you have the right tools if you are going to be trimming your own bushes. A landscaper is only as good as the tools and landscaping products that they choose. For this landscaping task, you will need to invest in hedge clippers, pruning shears, and gardening gloves. It’s usually better to use the hedge clippers for thorny bushes like Roses bushes so that you can keep your distance. Pruning shears are great if you are looking to get detailed with your trimming, because they are much smaller and easier to manage. Gardening gloves are another essential because they will protect your hands from damage when you are doing your trimming.

3. Analyze Your Bushes

Before you trim anything, another important step for bush trimming is to analyze all of your bushes. Try to envision what you want them to look like. Look for any shoots that seem out of place or aren’t doing anything aesthetically for your landscaping. You will also want to keep an eye out for any dead growth on your bushes so that you can trim it away. Don’t get trigger happy with your shears and try to think strategically before you start trimming.

4. Trim Based on the Bush

You should take different approaches to trimming based on the type of bush you are trimming. This can essentially be broken down into two main types of bushes, evergreen shrubs and flowering bushes. For evergreen shrubs, you want to look out for any shoots that are out of place and don’t look good. It’s a fairly simple approach that means you trim back anything that doesn’t look good until they fit in with the rest of the bush. If you are trimming flowering bushes, you are looking for anything that appears to be dead. If you notice a shoot with a dead flower, you can cut it back and remove the dead parts. However, be careful not to cut into the main part of the shrub, as this can make things worse than they were before.

5. Take a Step Back

After you have done the majority of the trimming, it always helps to take a step back from your bushes to see how things are looking at a distance. This will be helpful in noticing any bushes that seem to be larger or smaller than the rest of your landscaping. Hopefully you didn’t trim too much, because you can always go back and trim more. Pruning is kind of like giving your bushes a haircut, so make sure you don’t cut too much off! You want your bushes to be uniform in your landscaping, so definitely keep that goal in mind whenever you are cutting your bushes.

6. Enjoy Your Hard Work

Sure, handling your landscaping all on your own can be really challenging, but after the hard work you should take the time to enjoy your efforts. Trimming your bushes and getting them looking good is almost like therapy. You typically will only need to trim your bushes once every year, so that means you can spend your time on other landscaping activities now that you’ve handled the bush trimming.

We hope this guide has been helpful for all of the aspiring gardeners and landscapers that want to handle trimming their bushes on their own. Choosing beautiful shrubs like Hydrangeas, Burning Bushes, Rose Bushes, and more can bring color and style to anyone’s landscaping. Just keep in mind that you will need to trim them to keep them looking great! As a reminder, if you are looking for the best landscaping products and gardening products on the market, reach out to Cal Blend Soils Inc. today! We can deliver top-notch landscaping products to the location of your choice at a great price. Good luck with your bush trimming this year!