Bare Bottom Bushes and Nekked Knee Hedges

There is NO plant that has plumb sides. And when we try to make them so. We are making an irreversible mistake that will end up leaving the bottom part of the shrub bare. (fig D4)

If you want a formal style hedge that is square with the ground then you must compromise a little and be sure that the lower portion comes out further than the top about at least a 15 degree angle depending on the sun exposure (Fig D1&2)

(if the side of the shrub has a southern exposure with little or no shading than you may be able to keep a near 90 degree angle but if the exposure is to the north you need at least a 23 degree angle to allow sun to get to the lower branches.) Formal hedges have their place in a formal garden but even at Versailles the greatest Garden in the world. I noticed that the formal plants were pruned into shapes that followed their natural form and there were many areas of the gardens that were quite soft and natural.


Why is it that people expect the plants to have a table flat top and crisp 90-degree angles? (Fig D3) It is possible to do this with perseverance. And proper pruning methods. But even then they need to be plucked or pruned hard occasionally (fig A1 b1 and c)to prevent what I call witches brooms on the tip were they get cut to the same spot over a long period and develop a heavy stem with lots of small sprouts near the tip. This happens mostly with large leafed plants. But it can occur with smaller leaved things too and thinning these out by cutting them deeper into the shrub can help to cure the twiggy look that formal hedges sometimes get.


A neat and tidy formal appearance can be achieved without making everything in the yard into a square box if the side angle is followed through and gracefully rounded at the top it will follow the natural growth habits of the plant and not look unkempt after the new shoots begin to appear remember that leaves have a limited life span an must be replaced so it you are always cutting all the new growth off you are impeding the health of the plant so rather than pruning to the same spot every time it should be varied to allow new growth in the zone that you desire to be the finished surface. On average this is about 6 inches or variance so you might say that you would not prune all of the new growth off and allow it to grow through the summer with minimal clipping to catch the wild shoots and then cut it back past the desired height/width sometime around September so as to allow a new flush of growth before it gets cold and growth slows for the winter.
An exception to this is azaleas they form there flower buds for the next seasons blooming sometime around July so you want to prune them heavy right after they bloom and then not at all after the fourth of July. But here with the mild winters azaleas like Apples and some other fruit trees need a number of chilling hours to bloom properly. If the winter is not cold enough they don’t trigger to bloom well and then the blooms are staggered and never the full bloom like you would have in Atlanta. Also some varieties aft azaleas like Red ruffle bloom sportily throughout the year here. You will notice that after a particularly cold winter we have a great azalea bloom.