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When and How to Rejuvenate Old Shrubs?

Spring is here. Gone are the short, dark days of winter. It’s the time of year to enjoy the outdoors. New growth on trees and shrubs provide color and beauty to yards and gardens all over Bergen County, NJ. It takes a lot of time and planning to maintain your yard, year after year. Shrubs and trees, bearing flowers and fruit, add character to a property, creating a peaceful retreat during warm weather months. It’s important to rejuvenate old shrubs, allowing them to continually provide an aesthetically pleasing outdoor environment for your home.

Choose the Right Time to Rejuvenate Shrubs

Caring for shrubs on a regular basis is essential for healthy plants to thrive. Spring is the perfect time to examine the health of landscape shrubs. Mature shrubs, if not maintained properly, can quickly become overgrown and wild. Shrubs originally planted to provide tranquil surroundings, shade, or privacy, may no longer flourish. Additionally, overgrown, unsightly shrubs may block walkways and paths. Shrubs may have life left in them, even when they appear tattered. Busy home owners in Bergen County, NJ often do not have the time to properly care for shrubs, and many turn to a professional landscape company like Borst Landscape and Design, for help to rejuvenate old shrubs. Removing and replacing old shrubs is definitely an option, especially if they are dead or diseased. However, rejuvenating old shrubs, if feasible, is a better, and often more cost efficient option.

shrubsIt’s crucial to rejuvenate old shrubs at the right time, limiting damage during the pruning process. Pruning shrubs, or cutting them back, at the wrong time can impact flower production and foliage growth. Any shrub marked for rejuvenation, due to severe damage or dead growth, should be worked on in early spring, before new growth appears.

Most trees and shrubs are dormant in late winter and early spring. This is the perfect time to prune a shrub that blooms in the summer or fall, such as a butterfly bush, caryoptens, and rose of sharon.

Flowering shrubs and trees, including azaleas, lilacs, roses, and rhododendrons, should be rejuvenated after their blooms begin to die off. Their growth and blooms are from the previous year. Depending upon the flowering shrub, the pruning may be done during the spring or summer.

Methods of Rejuvenating Shrubs

To rejuvenate very old shrubs with large areas of dead growth, you may need to hard prune the shrubs. This will leave a stub just 6 – 12 inches above the ground. Hard prune shrubs in spring before buds open, using a long-handled pruner. Because heavy pruning is stressful on shrubs, they will require a lot of attention for the first year or two. Ensure that the shrubs are watered well and continually examine them for disease and pests. A northern New Jersey landscape company can assist you with organic fertilizer options for your shrubs and soil, that support new growth.

Diseased leaves and branches must also be removed from shrubs. Broken branches, leftover from the winter, can be pruned with a hand pruner or handsaw. Remove the oldest shoots from spring-blooming shrubs and trees, to promote new blooms next year. A pole saw with a rotating head works well for tall shrubs and trees. Regular pruning and maintenance of shrubs removes unattractive and unhealthy growth every year. Rejuvenating shrubs in this manner prevents overgrown, diseased, and dead shrubs.

When you rejuvenate shrubs, it’s critical not to stress the plant, weakening it. Removing all of the stems, branches, and leaves makes it more vulnerable to diseases and pests. A regular maintenance program, with the help of a professional landscape company, will keep your Bergen County yard, and shrubs, healthy and attractive year-round.

Contact Borst to Rejuvenate Old Shrubs

Borst Landscape and Design is a full-service, award winning landscape company in Bergen County, NJ. Talk to us about how we can help you rejuvenate old shrubs on your northern New Jersey property.  Borst Landscape and Design has the professionals, expertise, and services to fit all of your landscaping needs in Northern New Jersey. Contact Borst today to find out more.