Many people don’t think to call an arborist for shrub care, and not all tree care companies provide shrub care services. Tree care companies are not all the same, and their areas of expertise and training will vary from company to company. Tree Health Management (THM) has a staff of arborists well trained in climbing and pruning trees and in specialized pruning for shrubs and small ornamentals of all kinds.
We don’t use electrical hedge trimmers, most customers are surprised by this fact. While doing things this way takes longer, we stand by the results it produces. Shrubs that are pruned by hand are pruned correctly, just above a growth node that when cut, will activate dormant bud growth. Shrubs cut indiscriminately with electrical pruning shears will not, and it is impossible to prune in the right place. This kind of pruning cuts and sometimes shreds leaves, buds, indiscriminately and makes internodal cuts (cuts where new growth will not occur, resulting in dieback to the correct pruning placement). Then there’s the added challenge of it being harder to see how much you’re removing while cutting, and it’s very easy to cut beyond the point of live tissue. Pruning by hand generally offers a more natural look to shrubs, but topiary or very tight shrub pruning is achievable by hand as well. Our arborists are experienced in these different methodologies and can produce excellent results quicker than you might think.
Most shrubs in southern Wisconsin do well with some degree of annual pruning, to varying degrees of live tissue removal. It takes a trained professional to know when and how much is appropriate to remove and varies depending on species. Sometimes we will suggest that customers have us prune their shrubs for them and then they can copy what we’ve done in the future, which can be a practical solution if cost is prohibitive. One of Tree Health Management’s missions is to provide our customers with education they can use to better care for and monitor their trees and shrubs.
In addition to typical shrub pruning, we are experts at “rehabilitation” type pruning. This is a specialized kind of pruning that is corrective in nature and is meant to restore the shape or form of a plant with significant dieback or reshape plants that have been disfigured by incorrect pruning in the past. One session of incorrect pruning can forever change and even damage the structure of a beautiful tree or shrub.
Some shrubs benefit from annual pruning to make them more condensed, full, or to encourage heavier or larger blooming. Our arborists have expertise not common among tree care companies in the region and we can handle the care and pruning of any plant you are likely to have on your property with the highest level of skill and pride.