My shrubs have been sheared so they are thick and unnatural. They look like balls and boxes. Can I do some pruning that will bring them back to their natural shape and thickness? Is now a good time to prune?
Yes, shrubs which have been sheared so they have lost their natural shape and thickness can be recovered. Now is a good time to prune most shrubs. It is important to prune spring-flowering shrubs like azalea, rhododendron, lilac and forsythia right away. They begin forming new flower buds for next year in August and September.
The main pruning cut needed to return sheared shrubs to a natural shape is thinning. This means removing about one-third of the branches deep inside the shrub. Plants which have been sheared several times will have clusters of three or more branches growing out from the same point. Deeper in the plant, you will probably find another cluster. Prune below the first and second clusters if possible. With one cut, you will be removing three to nine branches or branchlets. Where you have branches growing out beyond the flat areas, leave some of them and shorten long ones at different lengths.
I like to start at the bottom of the shrub and gradually prune branches shorter as I move up. This gives a rounded or curved natural shape. Prune so that upper branches are shorter than lower ones. If lower branches are pruned too short, they become shaded by the upper ones and start to lose their leaves.
