When should I tip my shrubs?

Question

I planted a hedge this past spring and want it to spread out. When should I tip the tops for this to happen?

Answer 1

I have worked in, studied and been interested in horticulture in one capacity or another for about 42 years, and I have never heard of "tipping the tops". I assume that you mean "clip". If you are in a cool climate (Zone 6 to 7 and lower) you will not be getting any further growth this year. If you do after a sudden Indian Summer, it would be weak and winter-kill. You can prune it as normal for shaping, and the new growth next spring would appear as lateral shoots from topped leader-type growth (apical dominance.) As a rule of thumb, plants that have the leader removed will produce lateral growth; lateral removal will result in new/alternate leaders, due to shift of growth hormone in the plant at the growing tips. Most people plant a hedge to spread, so it is pruned accordingly. If this is a privet or a boxwood hedge, they take pruning nicely. Do not prune where the growth on top shadows the bottom growth (as in exaggerated ball shapes) or the heavier top growth shades the bottom, which can result in dieback of lower laterals, or leaf drop. It can result in unaffected growth, but you take that chance. Good luck.

Answer 2

I think you should only tip extra for particularly good service. If they are not doing what you want you should not tip them at all.


If this is not a misplaced dining-out question then let me say that my hedges go like gangbusters without my ever having to "tip the tops", what ever that means.

Answer 3

I only tip my shrubs if they cooperate in the whole year spectrum.
Then they get 10% good fertilizer, plus water soluble feed for an ego boost!

Answer 4

autumn is the best time during the plants dormant cycle but it is also acceptable to light prune during the growing season