Grooming & Pruning

Pruning and Grooming your Ornamental trees and shrubs. What are your aesthetic goals and concerns?

At Bransfield Company, we will take the time to go over all your plants with you to help you develop a pruning strategy that makes sense. Some questions that need to be asked:

How big will a particular plant get?

In a perfect world, anyone installing plants would have a clear idea of how large a plant will get before it is installed and allow enough room for the plant to achieve its maximal size without interference. Clearly this is not the case, and plants are installed without sufficient forethought. Often, homeowners aren't aware of the problem until the plant is overgrown and threatening to consume the landscape. When this happens, decisions have to made.

Can it be contained with a pruning plan? Or, should it be moved or removed?

We strive to get you accurate information regarding the habits of your plants and the costs to maintain them so that you can make decisions that work for you and your budget.

Does the maximum size of a plant fit the scale of the property?

Sometimes we have no choice but to install plants that will need to be regularly pruned. . . A Hemlock hedge is a great example. The Hemlock tree excels at maintaining dense low foliage year round in deeply shaded areas, but it is also a tree that wants to grow to be 90 feet tall or better. We want the shade tolerant density for privacy & screening but often don't have the room to let the tree grow where it wants. A thoughtful pruning plan needs to be executed to achieve all the goals for a given plant.

Can we prune to mitigate damage from weather?

Often trees and shrubs will just keep growing until the branches get so long that they break under snow or ice load. Pruning these branches back so that they are shortened and still look natural is a great way to avoid storm damage tragedy.

Do you prefer that a plant or hedge achieve a more formal or natural look?

At Bransfield we prefer a Natural style of pruning--one that seeks to accentuate the natural form of a plant giving it visual depth and texture. But some areas of the landscape really require a tighter, more formal appearance and we can achieve that too. Only rarely do we break out the power shears; plants that are continually hit with the power shears end up looking more like a geometric obelisk rather than a living plant.

How often does a plant need to be pruned to maintain a desired appearance?

All plants are different. Our approach is to give our clients honest, practical information and to never oversell or up-sell for the sake of making up work. Not every plant needs to get pruned every year, and not every plant that requires pruning requires the same level of attention. Expeditious application of pruning resources is vital to maintaining aesthetics and budgets.

Does a plant have structural/mechanical issues that need to be addressed?

It takes a trained eye to look at a plant and see structural flaws that might be happening now or after 5 or 10 more years of growth. Smart pruning or installation of mechanical braces, cables, or spreaders can help avert tragedy down the road.

Can we transform the structural scaffold of a plant to achieve a more elegant, stately look?

Often, new Nursery plant stock comes with a very upright, tight structure. To maximize yield, too many plants are jammed into the nursery field to grow, and they aren't given sufficient space to spread out. Yet, when we look at all the best antique, established ornamental trees, they have a wide, horizontally spreading structure. At Bransfield we have developed a strategy of using anchors and spreaders applied for several weeks at the right time of year to train plants into a more interesting & elegant structure. So much in the realm of fine ornamental pruning comes down to the aesthetic sensibilities of the homeowner. The trained eye of an experienced arborist can asses your plants and help you make sound decisions at any time of year. Call us today to schedule a consultation with one of our Arborists.