It might seem like a strange time of the year to write about a landscaping project, especially if like me, you live in a climate where it is winter right now. As soon as Christmas is over, I start dreaming about gardening and landscaping projects, so I thought it would be a good time to share this project that we completed in late November. The project was pruning a very large, overgrown bush, and it needed to wait until the temperatures were cooler so that the plant would be dormant.

Let me start by saying that I am definitely not a landscape or gardening expert. I know just enough to be dangerous. I have taken some horticulture classes in the past and previously completed some similar projects. I also do research before diving into each project. The bush that we pruned is actually on our next door neighbor’s property. She did not like how the bush looked, but was not sure what to do with it, and asked for my help. It was so overgrown that it looked like it was planted on the property line and spread to both of our properties. This bush sits at the end of our driveways and our goal was to create a more open and appealing shape for it.

This is a non-flowering bush that is probably as old as the neighborhood, which was built in the late 1950’s. There are bushes just like it in other yards in the neighborhood, but those bushes have been better maintained and gave us some inspiration as to what the bush we had could look like. Our neighbor was hoping for cloud shaped foliage and more of an organic bonsai looking shaping for the bush.

This type of bush is best to cut back in cooler temperatures (late fall through late winter) when it will be dormant and before it is set to produce new growth. “Hard pruning” like we did will encourage new growth when temperatures warm up in the spring. If pruning a bush just to maintain its shape, this can be done anytime, unless it is a flowering bush. Flowering bushes should be pruned just after they are done blooming, before they set new buds.

I started pruning this bush earlier in the fall, but found that it had some yellow jacket nests. After getting stung, we decided to wait until there had been a freeze to ensure that the wasps had gone dormant before starting again.

I began by going underneath the bush and cutting out dead branches. Once the dead branches were removed, I hoped that the shape would open up and give me a better visual idea of how to approach making shapes. With other trees and bushes that I have pruned, I found that the plant will guide me on how to create the best shape for it, if I go slowly and step back often to look from a distance. Going slowly and choosing carefully which branches to cut is very important when changing the shape of a bush or tree.

Until I got started, I didn’t realize just how much dead branches, roots and foliage there was. There was also a lot of branches that were crossed and rubbing against each other. Branches that cross and rub against each other can cause damage and disease to the plant, so I needed to remove those too. Because the bush was so overgrown, it was blocking light from getting to the inside of the plant, which led to so many dead branches. I ended up enlisting the help of my husband and his chain saw to complete this project. Once I located the main branches, we cleared everything around them away.

This project was much more difficult and took a lot more time than I thought it would. We ended up having to remove so much of it! There is always a risk with taking on this kind of project that you make a wrong cut and end up ruining or killing the bush. That part is both scary and exciting. Once we were finished, the bush was much smaller and is now completely on our neighbor’s property. We are really happy with the results and so is our neighbor. This project was so rewarding! The bush should fill in nicely in the spring and be beautiful for years to come!

Below is the final result.

Here are some additional before and after pictures:

Thanks for following along. Would you take on a project like this? Let me know if the comments.