Gardening Guides
Native Plants
Tidy Up Sprawling Native Shrubs With These Pruning Tips
Sound horticultural pruning methods work for native and nonnative plants alike
Summer can be an excellent time to cut back woody native shrubs that finished blooming in spring. In California, for example, August and September are excellent months to prune woody sage (Salvia) species by up to a half to encourage a tidier shape. Just look out for late-season chrysalides, which could be sheltering soon-to-emerge butterflies and moths. Contact your local cooperative extension office or Master Gardener for information on when and how best to prune specific native shrub species.
Pruning is a valuable maintenance practice that can enhance the look and health of your native shrubs. Sound horticultural pruning techniques can enable native plants that loom large and sprawling in the wild to fit smaller gardens. With a little know-how, native shrubs can become small trees and even formal hedges. These pruning tips apply beyond native plants, but they are geared to help the budding native gardener gain confidence in maintaining a native landscape.
Pruning is a valuable maintenance practice that can enhance the look and health of your native shrubs. Sound horticultural pruning techniques can enable native plants that loom large and sprawling in the wild to fit smaller gardens. With a little know-how, native shrubs can become small trees and even formal hedges. These pruning tips apply beyond native plants, but they are geared to help the budding native gardener gain confidence in maintaining a native landscape.
Know the shrub’s flowering season to know its pruning season. Research your native plant’s flowering season to learn the best season to prune it. If your shrub flowers in spring, it means the flowers are produced on wood that was grown the previous year. It’s better to prune spring bloomers just after they finish their bloom, in late spring through summer, or else you risk cutting off developing flowers.
Summer-blooming shrubs typically produce flowers on new growth, which can look like green stems on woody shrubs, as opposed to woodier, drier-looking stems. For these summer bloomers, you’ll want to prune off dead wood in early spring to stimulate the new stems to grow and produce more flowers. Pruning old dead wood from shrubs is a highly beneficial maintenance practice.
Manzanita shrubs (Arctostaphylos), pictured, require special care and cautious maintenance. Nascent flowers appear in early summer that will develop into urn-shaped flowers in winter. If you prune off branch tips in the summer, you’ll lose your flowers and fruit. If you need to remove dead branches on a manzanita, it’s best done in the late summer, when cuts can dry and heal quickly.
How to Prune Your Flowering Shrubs for the Best Blooms
Summer-blooming shrubs typically produce flowers on new growth, which can look like green stems on woody shrubs, as opposed to woodier, drier-looking stems. For these summer bloomers, you’ll want to prune off dead wood in early spring to stimulate the new stems to grow and produce more flowers. Pruning old dead wood from shrubs is a highly beneficial maintenance practice.
Manzanita shrubs (Arctostaphylos), pictured, require special care and cautious maintenance. Nascent flowers appear in early summer that will develop into urn-shaped flowers in winter. If you prune off branch tips in the summer, you’ll lose your flowers and fruit. If you need to remove dead branches on a manzanita, it’s best done in the late summer, when cuts can dry and heal quickly.
How to Prune Your Flowering Shrubs for the Best Blooms
This purple sage (Salvia leucophylla) is looking leggy and in need of a summertime prune.
This is purple sage after pruning.
Research your specific plant species to know how much pruning it can take. For example, many California native sages can be pruned fairly hard: Up to a half of the plant can be removed to encourage a compact shape. Some woody shrubs can be pruned down to a nub, while others are finicky and don’t like to be pruned much at all.
Tip: Always sterilize pruners (with alcohol or a bleach solution) between cuts to prevent the spread of pathogens.
Research your specific plant species to know how much pruning it can take. For example, many California native sages can be pruned fairly hard: Up to a half of the plant can be removed to encourage a compact shape. Some woody shrubs can be pruned down to a nub, while others are finicky and don’t like to be pruned much at all.
Tip: Always sterilize pruners (with alcohol or a bleach solution) between cuts to prevent the spread of pathogens.
This toyon has been pruned into a multitrunk tree form.
You can transform tall bushes into small trees. Gardeners are often thrilled to learn that the large, bushy shrubs they admire on hiking trails can become courtyard-size trees in their gardens. The key is to start pruning when a shrub is small and young, ideally less than 1 year old.
You can decide early on if you want a single-trunk tree or multitrunk form, though often the plant itself will tell you which choice is better. Sometimes this training begins early at the nursery. If you know that you want your native shrub to eventually become a single-trunk or multitrunk tree, talk to your local native plant nursery staff to see if they have any plants already headed in that direction.
Tip: If you have a mature tree, it’s better to call a certified arborist for pruning work since he or she will be able to cut off large limbs in a safe and healthy way.
You can transform tall bushes into small trees. Gardeners are often thrilled to learn that the large, bushy shrubs they admire on hiking trails can become courtyard-size trees in their gardens. The key is to start pruning when a shrub is small and young, ideally less than 1 year old.
You can decide early on if you want a single-trunk tree or multitrunk form, though often the plant itself will tell you which choice is better. Sometimes this training begins early at the nursery. If you know that you want your native shrub to eventually become a single-trunk or multitrunk tree, talk to your local native plant nursery staff to see if they have any plants already headed in that direction.
Tip: If you have a mature tree, it’s better to call a certified arborist for pruning work since he or she will be able to cut off large limbs in a safe and healthy way.
A toyon branch is being pruned neatly at the node.
Each pruning season, systematically remove lower branches, cutting neatly at the node (the point in the plant stem where leaves or new stems grow).
Each pruning season, systematically remove lower branches, cutting neatly at the node (the point in the plant stem where leaves or new stems grow).
The small leaning tree with the chocolate-brown trunk in the background of this garden is a 20-year-old big berry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca). The homeowner carefully removed its lower branches during the first few years after planting it as a tiny 1-gallon plant, allowing its single trunk to twist and turn, adding visual movement that draws your eye more deeply into the garden.
Native plants can be trained as hedges. If you desire a more formal look in your garden, you can use native plants to achieve hedge forms, but they do have their benefits and drawbacks.
In this garden, the homeowners pruned their California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) into a hedge along the sidewalk. They selected a plant that was well-scaled to begin with — California buckwheat has a mature height of 3 to 4 feet, so it requires minimal pruning on top — and keep it in a rectangular form with hand shearing.
Light and air are a plant’s best friends, and formally sheared hedges often get top-heavy. The amount of light and air that reaches the lower branches becomes reduced, often causing unsightly and unhealthy die-off in the lower and interior regions of the shrub. To minimize this, I recommend using hand pruners to cut much-needed light and air gaps about 1 inch wide into the shrub every foot or so along your hedge line. The goal is to help light and air penetrate down into the lowest parts of the plant.
In this garden, the homeowners pruned their California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) into a hedge along the sidewalk. They selected a plant that was well-scaled to begin with — California buckwheat has a mature height of 3 to 4 feet, so it requires minimal pruning on top — and keep it in a rectangular form with hand shearing.
Light and air are a plant’s best friends, and formally sheared hedges often get top-heavy. The amount of light and air that reaches the lower branches becomes reduced, often causing unsightly and unhealthy die-off in the lower and interior regions of the shrub. To minimize this, I recommend using hand pruners to cut much-needed light and air gaps about 1 inch wide into the shrub every foot or so along your hedge line. The goal is to help light and air penetrate down into the lowest parts of the plant.
California buckwheat grows in its natural form.
One thing to consider before shearing your plants into formal shapes is that this aggressive pruning style sacrifices flowers. You also lose the plant’s natural character and shape.
I would argue that a formally shaped hedge makes sense in some circumstances and that the leaves of a sheared native plant still feed more caterpillars than those of a nonnative. Using a native species where a formal hedge is desired is still a net gain for the ecosystem.
One thing to consider before shearing your plants into formal shapes is that this aggressive pruning style sacrifices flowers. You also lose the plant’s natural character and shape.
I would argue that a formally shaped hedge makes sense in some circumstances and that the leaves of a sheared native plant still feed more caterpillars than those of a nonnative. Using a native species where a formal hedge is desired is still a net gain for the ecosystem.
A California lilac (Ceanothus) is espaliered against the wall.
Native plant espaliers are possible too. Espalier is a helpful pruning and training method to add to your garden maintenance tool kit. Thought to have originated in ancient Rome, and utilized throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, espalier allows you to grow large shrubs, and even trees, in tight spaces. Almost any woody shrub can be trained as an espalier, so I recommend having fun and experimenting.
Native plant espaliers are possible too. Espalier is a helpful pruning and training method to add to your garden maintenance tool kit. Thought to have originated in ancient Rome, and utilized throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, espalier allows you to grow large shrubs, and even trees, in tight spaces. Almost any woody shrub can be trained as an espalier, so I recommend having fun and experimenting.
California native ‘Dara’s Gold’ flannel bush (Fremontodendron ‘Dara’s Gold’), normally 6 to 8 feet wide, has been loosely espaliered against this fence to fit a narrow strip next to the driveway. The homeowner cuts it back each year just after its flowering season.
The primary requirement for an espalier is a support structure, which can be a system of metal wires on a wall or fence. Plant spacing is another factor, and consistent pruning is key to maintaining the look.
The Art of the Espalier
The primary requirement for an espalier is a support structure, which can be a system of metal wires on a wall or fence. Plant spacing is another factor, and consistent pruning is key to maintaining the look.
The Art of the Espalier
By taking what is naturally a large, bushy shrub and using the espalier technique to train it to grow relatively flat against a wall, this toyon fits a narrow space with room for smaller native shrubs at its base.
Here we see the progression of the toyon espalier.
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Know the shrub’s mature height before planting. If you know that your shrub will grow to be 15 to 20 feet tall, it’s best not to plant it under a 10-foot-high roof unless you’re up for an ongoing maintenance challenge. In most cases, it doesn’t benefit you or the shrub to have to continually reduce the height.
I recommend using height as the limiting factor in your plant selection. Width is important, but it’s usually not as constricting as height. Ask your local native plant nursery about the size that your plant is expected to get at maturity, or you can find this information online if you know the botanical name of your plant.