Drive through any southeastern Wisconsin neighborhood this June, and you’ll see them: lilacs hacked into geometric blobs, boxwoods sheared into green meatballs, and ornamental shrubs that look like they lost a fight with a dull chainsaw. No doubt, this handiwork was performed by someone who meant well. Unfortunately, much of this was done by “professionals.”
I admit … I am a horticulture snob, and I’m on a lifelong crusade to prevent the abuse of plants. All a plant wants is to grow, flower, and provide us with beautiful living art. Oh, let’s not forget … there’s that whole converting carbon dioxide into oxygen thing that plants do for us. My crusade continues.
Summer is a critical time on our calendar. Our spring-flowering shrubs, like Lilac, Forsythia, Viburnum, and Weigela have completed their floral displays. They’re now ready for pruning. But the window of opportunity is only open for about 4 to 6 weeks. Technically correct, pruning during this window allows us to properly size these plants, remove diseased and dead wood, and thin excess branches and stems. Our selective removal of unwanted wood stimulates the growth of new stems and branches. Once this new growth is fully developed, it will produce flower and leaf buds that we will enjoy in 2027. Once the pruning window closes, the opportunity to prune is gone. If we prune outside this window, we’ll remove next spring’s leaves and flowers.
The opposite is true for shrubs that bloom later in the summer. Panicle Hydrangea (Limelight, Quick Fire), Smooth Hydrangea (Annabelle), Shrub Roses, Callicarpa, Diervilla, and Clethra all bloom on new wood – growth produced during the current season. These should be pruned during the dormant season, not in June. Heavy pruning now removes the very wood that is about to flower.
A quick note on Spireas: some are spring-flowering, and some are summer-flowering, so you need to know which variety you have before you make a cut. This is exactly the kind of detail where a trained eye protects the plant.
Pruning intimidates most homeowners, and intimidation almost always leads to the worst possible outcome: inaction. Don’t let it. Pruning is not an expensive horticultural service. Pruning is an investment that keeps plants thriving, properly sized, and beautiful for decades. Properly pruned plants are the color, texture, and artistry of your outdoor environment.
There’s so much to love and appreciate outdoors. For the past 32 years, our experts have been designing, crafting, and maintaining remarkable landscapes that inspire families to be outside, in every season, discovering the wonders of nature. Please call to schedule a free on-site pruning consultation.
Bret Achtenhagen is the owner of Bret Achtenhagen’s Seasonal Services, a premier, full-service landscape company founded in 1994 and based in Mukwonago. Bret hosts a weekly radio show, “The Designer Yard Show,” on 1130 WISN, which airs every Saturday at 1pm.
Any content, resident submissions, guest columns, advertisements, and advertorials are not necessarily endorsed by or represent the views of Best Version Media LLC (BVM) or any municipality, homeowners associations, businesses, or organizations that this publication serves. BVM is not responsible for the reliability, suitability, or timeliness of any content submitted, inclusive of materials generated or composed through artificial intelligence (AI). All content submitted is done so at the sole discretion of the submitting party.
