The 2024/2025 New England winter may be far in the rearview mirror, but its impact on your landscaping may still be evident, especially on our outdoor shrubbery. The same shrubbery we spend our summer months tending to so diligently grows wildly and untamed over those long winter months. We often find ourselves glancing over shrubbery maintenance, too distracted by the beach-dune length of our grass, while we should be tending to the maintenance of our foliage just as intensively as we do our lawns. If your trees or bushes look overgrown and out of condition, then pruning is the remedy for your foliage.
Prune Today, Flourish Tomorrow
Pruning is no different than mowing your lawn, except it’s for your plants. Often overlooked during the spring clean-up season, pruning is the horticultural practice of selectively removing certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots, to improve its health, aesthetics, or growth pattern. The addition of healthy, well-managed shrubbery to your freshly cut lawn will make your yard look fresh out of a home and garden magazine.
- Visual Benefits: It should come as no surprise that the visual benefits of pruning are spectacular. Check out our before and after photos, you can see the difference between the photos is like night and day.
- Health Benefits: Beyond the benefits of appearance, what are some of the health benefits of your shrubbery? Think of pruning the same way you go for a haircut, all you’re doing is cleaning up all the convoluted volume, and making way for the strong and healthy foliage to continue growing. Pruning can increase the lifespan of your plants, reduce the risk of disease in plants and shrubbery, remove sunlight blocks, and improve structure and integrity. Routine pruning can ensure that your plants will grow in good health and live long in the lush garden of your lawn.
- Increased Flower and Fruit Production: For homeowners with fruit trees, we recommend annual pruning to ensure the most bountiful harvest. Pruning can increase both the quantity and size of fruit by reducing overcrowding and directing nutrients to the most productive branches. Many flowering shrubs bloom on either old wood (last year’s growth) or new wood (the current year’s growth). Understanding this distinction is important for pruning at the right time. When timed properly, pruning encourages the growth of productive flowering shoots, resulting in more abundant and better-quality blossoms.
The High Cost of a Bad Cut
Improper pruning doesn’t just affect the appearance of your landscape; it can have lasting negative effects on plant health, safety, and property value. Here are some of the most common consequences:
- While pruning is beneficial, it must be done correctly. Improper pruning techniques can cause long-lasting, sometimes irreversible damage. Tearing or ripping branches. This can create large wounds that are slow to heal and invite disease.
- Cutting too close to the trunk or leaving stubs, improper trimming methods like these may inhibit proper healing and encourage decay.
- Over-pruning is another mistake people make when pruning on their own. Removing too much foliage stresses the plant, potentially stunting growth or causing death.
- Proper timing is crucial when pruning; different types of trees each have different ideal pruning windows. Pruning at the wrong time or pruning during the wrong season can disrupt the flowering or sap flow of the shrub.
- Lastly, using unclean or dull tools may spread disease and cause ragged cuts.
DIY pruning may seem like a good way to save money, but the risks of causing unintentional harm are high. That’s why it’s important to leave pruning to trained professionals at Mass Lawn Pros, who understand trees, proper techniques, and safety protocols better than anyone in the South Shore.
Pruning Excellence, the Mass Lawn Pros Way
No matter the size of the project or the size of your trees or shrubs, no one is more qualified than Mass Lawn Pros. With years of experience and a clientele of loyal customers, we have built a South Shore landscaping empire! Don’t believe us? Well, our Google reviews speak for themselves. Chris in Milton gave us 5 stars, saying, “It was a pleasure to work with Mass Lawn Pros. I hired them for a spring cleanup, shrub trimming, tree pruning, and mulching. Communication was prompt and easy. They are very knowledgeable about plant care. The crew was thorough and hard-working. Highly recommend.”
Clients always provide positive feedback about our responsiveness and reliability. Lois Desmond gave us 5 stars, saying, “From the time I hired Mass Lawn Pros to the present, I have been pleased with the services. Alex has responded quickly and arranged for whatever service I needed. His men are thorough and respectful of my property. I enthusiastically recommend Mass Lawn Pros.”
Ready to give your shrubs and trees the expert care they deserve? Call us at (781) 835-8864 or contact us online for a free consultation.
Mass Lawn Pros is a South Shore, Massachusetts-based landscape design, construction & maintenance business serving residential and commercial properties. Mass Lawn Pros brings decades of local expertise to their clients and is known for their exceptional customer service and reliable workmanship. From lush, green lawns and stunning hardscapes to seasonal cleanups, tree pruning, and commercial plowing, Mass Lawn Pros ensures every project meets our high standards of excellence.
