Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ in a Minute
Episode Archive

Episode #71 | Original Air Date: June 8, 2020

 Related Resources

• Pruning Landscape Trees and Shrubs
• Gardening Solutions: Pruning Shrubs and Hedges
• Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Handbook for Home Landscapes - Pruning

Transcript

A common mistake in pruning hedges is shaping them into square edged boxes that eventually shade out lower branches, leaving a “see-through” hedge that is open at the bottom.

It’s best to prune a hedge so that the top is narrower than the bottom; allowing sunlight to reach all the plant's leaves and keep the hedge thick and full all the way to the ground.

Ideally, the purpose of hedge pruning is to gently guide growth, not constantly curtail it.

So, if you get to install a hedge from the start, select a plant that will grow to the appropriate size for your landscape and frequent pruning won’t be necessary.

Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ in a Minute is a production of the University of Florida’s Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Program, IFAS Extension, and WUFT-FM in cooperation with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.