Shrub & Hedge Trimming

Keep Your Landscape Looking Sharp

Shrubs and hedges are the finishing touches that make your landscape look complete. But they don't maintain themselves. Without regular trimming, they quickly become overgrown, lose their shape, and start looking messy. Professional trimming keeps them dense, healthy, and attractive all year round.

Here in Florence-Graham, we trim all types of shrubs and hedges. Whether you have formal hedges that need precise shaping or informal shrubs that just need to stay in bounds, we have the tools and experience to do it right. Regular trimming isn't just about appearance. It promotes healthy growth, increases flowering, and prevents plants from outgrowing their space and damaging fences, buildings, or walkways.

Types of Shrubs and Hedges We Trim

We work with all the common landscape plants you'll find in Southern California yards. Each type has specific trimming needs based on its growth habit and flowering pattern. Here are the plants we trim most often:

• Formal hedges like boxwood and privet that need precise shaping
• Privacy screens including ficus, podocarpus, and photinia
• Flowering shrubs such as roses, azaleas, and hibiscus
• Native plants like toyon, manzanita, and California lilac
• Ornamental shrubs including nandina, pittosporum, and viburnum
• Ground covers and low borders that need edge control
• Evergreen shrubs used for foundation plantings

Timing matters with shrub trimming. We trim different plants at different times of year to avoid cutting off flower buds or stressing the plant. Spring-flowering shrubs get trimmed right after they bloom. Summer-flowering shrubs get trimmed in late winter or early spring. Evergreen hedges can be trimmed multiple times during the growing season to maintain their shape. Our team at FGT Florence-Graham Tree Service knows exactly when to trim each type of plant for the best results.

Our Trimming Approach

Good shrub trimming is about more than just making things look neat. We trim in a way that promotes plant health and encourages the growth pattern you want. For formal hedges, this means creating a shape that's slightly wider at the bottom than the top. This allows sunlight to reach the lower branches so the hedge stays full all the way to the ground instead of getting bare and woody at the base.

For informal shrubs, we use selective pruning rather than just shearing everything into a ball. This maintains the plant's natural shape while controlling its size. We remove dead or damaged branches, thin out crowded areas to improve air circulation, and shape the plant to enhance its natural form. The result looks better and keeps the plant healthier than simple shearing.

How Often to Trim

The trimming schedule depends on the plant species and how formal you want the look. Fast-growing hedges like ficus might need trimming every month during the growing season to stay neat. Slower-growing formal hedges need trimming 3 to 4 times per year. Informal flowering shrubs might only need trimming once a year after they bloom.

We can set up a regular maintenance schedule so your landscape always looks its best. Many of our customers have us come every month or every other month during the growing season. This keeps everything under control and actually takes less time per visit than letting plants get overgrown and then doing major cutbacks. Just like with tree trimming, regular maintenance is easier and better for the plants than infrequent heavy pruning. If you need comprehensive care, we also offer complete landscape health programs.

Shrub Trimming Questions