Proper pruning is essential for maintaining the health, shape, and vitality of your landscape investment. While newly installed plants may show some initial stress from transplanting, understanding proper pruning techniques and timing will ensure your plants thrive for years to come.

Essential Pruning Guidelines

• Initial Care
  Remove any brown or dead branches from newly installed plants using clean, sharp hand pruners. This normal transplant stress will diminish as plants establish.
  
  
• Professional Maintenance
  Annual professional pruning is recommended to ensure proper techniques and timing, maintaining optimal plant health and aesthetic appeal.
  
  
• Tools and Techniques
  Use quality hand pruners for most pruning tasks. Power shears should be reserved only for formal hedge maintenance to prevent damage to plants.

Seasonal Pruning Guide

• Flowering Plants
  Prune after blooming to avoid removing upcoming flower buds. Regular deadheading of spent flowers encourages additional blooms and promotes vigorous new growth.
  
  
• Evergreens
  Vigorous growers like Junipers, Yews, and Hollies can be pruned as needed during the growing season. Pines and Spruce require specific timing - prune after their spring growth buds have elongated.
  
  
• Regular Maintenance
  Monitor plant growth throughout the season and remove any dead, diseased, or crossing branches promptly to maintain plant health and shape.

Perennial and Ornamental Grass Care

• Growing Season Care
  Regularly remove spent flower heads (deadheading) during the growing season to encourage continued blooming and maintain neat appearance.
  
  
• Winter Preparation
  Cut back perennials to ground level in November/December after first frosts have caused dieback. Dead stems should break easily at the plant's base.
  
  
• Ornamental Grasses
  Leave ornamental grasses standing through winter for visual interest and wildlife habitat. Cut back to approximately 6 inches height in early spring (March/April) before new growth begins.

Professional Garden Maintenance

Our comprehensive approach to plant care ensures your landscape maintains its beauty and vitality throughout the seasons. Our certified horticulturists understand the specific pruning requirements of each plant variety and provide expert maintenance at the optimal time for each species.

Through our Specialty Gardening Service, our Garden Specialists provide regular maintenance visits to ensure your perennials and ornamental grasses receive proper care for maximum health and visual impact. We serve distinguished properties throughout Ridgewood, Wyckoff, Saddle River, Franklin Lakes, and surrounding Bergen County communities.

Have questions about your landscape's pruning needs? Contact our team at (201) 447-6205 or reach out through our contact form. We're here to help ensure your landscape receives the expert care it needs to thrive.