Shearing arborvitae is tricky

Q. Can I shear off 1-1.5 inches of a hedge? I want it to green up after I cut it. It is arborvitae. When can I do this?

Larry from Youngstown

A. Yes, you can shear off a small amount. Shearing can be done in late winter/early spring before new buds open. You’ll want to be careful to not go too deep into the foliage. In the case of arborvitae, you will be removing many or most of the new buds that bring new growth come spring. I define shearing as taking an electric hedge trimmer to them, trying to make a flat edge of some type.

Arborvitae form buds on old wood. Thus, your hedge won’t be very pretty this year if you remove too much. Arborvitae shrubs that have been sheared and never pruned will not have a lot of top growth. There will be lots of brown stems after you shear, and it will take longer to fill in the bare spots which are exposed.

When you shear, you’ll want to make the hedge slightly pyramidal in shape. That is the top is slightly narrower than the bottom. This allows even sunlight down the side of the hedge to encourage continuous green growth.

The good thing is that arborvitae shrubs are vigorous growers and very forgiving. If you don’t hack it back too far, you’ll still get some good green up this spring. But you may get some complaints from family members or neighbors about how the hedge looks before the spots fill in all the way.

Everything depends on the current status of the hedge. Arborvitae can be sheared every year, as long as you are doing selecting pruning at least every two years on the shrubs. Selecting pruning is using a bypass pruner to reach down into the canopy, cutting just one short branch here and there without making large holes in the hedge. These smaller holes allow sunlight to penetrate deeper into the canopy, encouraging buds to swell and eventually break. These buds will be branches the next time you decide to shear.

To gain insight into proper pruning or shearing, you need to understand how the plant grows. Cutting the plant back invigorates the plant to grow more. With each cut, you are encouraging new buds to form new growth and new branches.

To learn more about shearing and pruning, go to http://go.osu.edu/pruneorshear.

Eric Barrett is OSU Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Mahoning County. Call the office hot line at 330-533-5538 to submit your questions. Regular clinic hours are over for the growing season, but you still can call and submit questions. Hours vary throughout the winter season.