thistlebloom
Garden Master
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- Dec 1, 2010
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Hopefully this will be useful to one or two people...
If you have Bluestar junipers, or any other juniper shrubs or prostrate evergreens you may have discovered that they grow densely and the needles and branches that get layered over eventually die. This causes a problem when a branch on the top layer gets broken or needs pruning for some reason.
I have run into this a lot in older mature landscapes when shrubbery hasn't been maintained regularly. Trying to clean up some of these old neglected shrubs can be frustrating and an exercise in uglification. Sometimes it's best to rip out and start fresh.
But if they are gone through every couple of years at least, then you won't have to do anything so drastic.
I was thinking about this the other day and thought it might be worthwhile to take a few pictures while I worked.
Here's a couple I was working on. The one on the left is finished, the one on the right hasn't been started.
I'm not real happy with the one on the left, it's a lot more open than I like, but had a large broken branch that had to come off so there was no choice. It will fill in some next year. These have not been trimmed since 2016 summer.
Here's what happens under the top layer. Lots of dead stuff.
Initially I use my hands and rub a lot of the dead needles off from the underside. If a branch is more than about 50% dead I remove it, trying to place the cut where the green upper layer will cover it.
The idea is to thin enough growth out so air and light can get into the interior. Sometimes a healthy branch needs to go to make room for this.
A branch that needs to go.
Raw cut.
I don't like to see all the fresh bright wood, it says "Hey! Look I just got pruned!". If the fresh cuts can't be hidden under top growth I like to rub a little dirt on it so it blends in.
After it's done. All that debris on the tarp came from one small shrub.
I also cleaned up the prostrate blue spruce hanging over the wall.
Before
After
If you have Bluestar junipers, or any other juniper shrubs or prostrate evergreens you may have discovered that they grow densely and the needles and branches that get layered over eventually die. This causes a problem when a branch on the top layer gets broken or needs pruning for some reason.
I have run into this a lot in older mature landscapes when shrubbery hasn't been maintained regularly. Trying to clean up some of these old neglected shrubs can be frustrating and an exercise in uglification. Sometimes it's best to rip out and start fresh.
But if they are gone through every couple of years at least, then you won't have to do anything so drastic.
I was thinking about this the other day and thought it might be worthwhile to take a few pictures while I worked.
Here's a couple I was working on. The one on the left is finished, the one on the right hasn't been started.
I'm not real happy with the one on the left, it's a lot more open than I like, but had a large broken branch that had to come off so there was no choice. It will fill in some next year. These have not been trimmed since 2016 summer.
Here's what happens under the top layer. Lots of dead stuff.
Initially I use my hands and rub a lot of the dead needles off from the underside. If a branch is more than about 50% dead I remove it, trying to place the cut where the green upper layer will cover it.
The idea is to thin enough growth out so air and light can get into the interior. Sometimes a healthy branch needs to go to make room for this.
A branch that needs to go.
Raw cut.
I don't like to see all the fresh bright wood, it says "Hey! Look I just got pruned!". If the fresh cuts can't be hidden under top growth I like to rub a little dirt on it so it blends in.
After it's done. All that debris on the tarp came from one small shrub.
I also cleaned up the prostrate blue spruce hanging over the wall.
Before
After
