Overgrown hedge and busch garden

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Overgrown hedge and busch garden

by Shelley
(Granite City, IL USA)

I have 2 "butterfly" bushes with an evergreen in between the two, how would you suggest to prune them? I just moved in and the garden is very overgrown. there is a large rock in front of them with the ornamental grass with little purple flowers. If I use weed/grass killer round them, will the weed killer seep into the roots of the hedges and kill them too?

I also have another garden with a few evergreens of different types that are over grown with other shrubs and a Japanese cherry tree. The garden is outline with brick and rocks, could I just use the weed killer on all of that without getting it on the plants as suggested on your page? Do I need to worry about it seeping into the roots and killing everything?

Comments for
Overgrown hedge and busch garden

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Sep 28, 2010

Overgrown hedge and Busch Garden
by: Kimberly

Hi Shelley, Kimberly here from landscape solutions for you. Thanks for asking your question on pruning your shrubs. I have been out of town on a business conference and apologize for the delay in answering your question.

The Butterfly shrubs can be trimmed way back. Always cut at an angle. If you do a good pruning now on your Butterfly bushes, you will have great growth in the spring. The flowers will increase for you next year. I am not sure what type of evergreen you have between them, but if the evergreen needs pruning, go ahead as fall is the best time of year.

As far as your weeds, I recommend to get an old cookie try and protect each shrub as you spray. Hold the cookie tray along the shrubs as you spray next to them. This shouldn't hurt their root systems.

Your other garden can be done the same way. Use the cookie try when spraying. You can also prune this garden as well.

Another good idea after pruning, is to loosen the soil and add some organic mushroom compost to each shrub. This is a great organic fertilizer that will last up to one year. Make sure you water shrubs after pruning.

Hope this helps and the best of luck to you. Thanks again for asking your question and feel free to ask anytime. Have a great day!
Kimberly

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