my dad has these bushes/trees in the front and my mom has been saying for the past month that they needed to be trimmed good. I wanted to surprise my parents before they came home from work so I got a electric tree trimmer and cut them in half and cut off alot of branches and stuff. It looks like a real hack job and my dad will be mad.
Do you think it caused permenant damage? or will they grow back normally next year?
2007-09-20 08:23:14 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
oh and these arent like real trees or anything. I think they are just really tall bushes. The trunk is only like 1 inch thick. The bush has literally quadrupled in size over the past 2 years.
2007-09-20 08:25:28 · update #1
It's really cool that you were trying to help your Mom (actually your Dad too); throw yourself on your Mom's mercy. Your Dad can probably trim them and neaten up what you started. Unless the shrub is one or two varieties, it should come out of it as long as you left leaves on it--you might suggest your parents get some B-1 for plant shock. Hey--at least your heart was in the right place. My son butchered my whole front yard and he's still alive, and I still love him!
2007-09-20 08:44:05 · answer #1 · answered by fair2midlynn 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's going to depend on the type of bush, and how much you cut away. A forsythia or a lilac will come back even if you cut it almost to the ground. We have a bush out in front of our house (I'm not sure what kind, but it gets a burgundy-colored bloom in the spring) that we cut to the ground just a few months ago, and it's already a foot tall again. Your best bet is to trim it so that it's shaped better, and hope for the best.
2007-09-21 08:29:21 · answer #2 · answered by cross-stitch kelly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, you probably aren't the first one to "over-trim" a tree, nor will you be the last.
The general rule is to take not more than a third of a tree/bush/shrub at a time. If you took more than that, you may get lucky as it sounds like the shrubs in question are fast growers, and will likely recover.
It won't be this season, and next season (if they are bloomers) they most likely won't bloom. But odds are they WILL recover.
Happy Yardening!
(Oh, and you could always tell them you were "rejuvenation pruning" them...lol)
2007-09-20 08:58:56 · answer #3 · answered by bec_ker6 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Give it time they'll eventually will grow back.. Might take a year or two but they will.
2007-09-20 09:37:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋