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The Complete Guide to Landscape Design, Renovation,
and Maintenance
by Cass Turnbull
SHEAR MADNESS
The overuse and misuse of sheared shrubbery is one of the most common
form of landscape mismanagement. Sometimes shearing shrubs is considered
a matter of taste and sometimes it is not. Selective pruners refer
to oversheared shrubs as "green meatballs." "hockey
pucks," and "gum drops"; they spoof sheared landscapes
as "tombstone" or "lollipop" yards and generally
lament the presence of ubiquitous "poodleballing." I call
it "shear madness."
To the novice eye a sheared yard looks tidy and interesting. To
seasoned selective pruners, a sheared yard seems pretentious and
betrays an ignorance of good pruning techniques. Whereas tree topping
is a crime against nature, poodleballing is regarded as the hallmark
of bad taste in gardening.
Shearing is, in itself, not bad. Whether or not shearing is appropriate
depends upon the style of the garden and the species of the shrub.
Both criteria must be met for sheared material to "work."
Formal Landscapes
The style of the yard must be formal as in a topiary, rose, knot
or Japanese style garden. A sheared plant can be used as a single
formal element of contrast. For example, a straight, sheared hedge
may serve as a backdrop for a border of perennials; or a walkway
might be bordered by sheared globes as commonly seen on estate grounds.
In England one is apt to find countryside cottages featuring large
boxwood shrubs sheared into the shapes of hens. What fun! In a Japanese
garden setting, massed plantings are sheared to imitate a vista
of low rolling hills. The lower story of sheared material is contrasted
with a pond and open, sparsely branched trees.
Species for Shearing
Whether or not shearing is appropriate also depends upon the species
of the shrub. All good pruning enhances the natural growth pattern
or habit of the plant material itself. Shearing is no exception.
As mentioned before, the criteria for good shear material are small
leaves spaced closely together and a plant tough enough to take
the shears repeatedly. Ideally, the plant chosen for shearing should
be capable of greening back up if it has to be reduced in size.
This makes broadleaf evergreens somewhat more desirable than needled
evergreens. Sheared evergreen (broadleaf or needled) shrubs and
trees are preferred over deciduous material because they look nice
all year 'round. The most ideal plants for shearing are boxwood,
holly, yew, privet, pyracantha, box honeysuckle, followed by some
santolinas and some finely needled evergreens such as junipers,
thuja and hemlocks. Other plants such as forsythia and philadelphus
are tough enough to withstand tight shearing but the leaves are
too large and, therefore, are not as attractive when sheared. Barberry
and spirea have small leaves but are not tough enough to take tight
shearing. They will develop dead spots, "bird's nesting"
and generally look "ratty." Species planted for their
flowers, will lose their spring display.
Some shrubs, such as escallonia, abelia and osmanthus, are the object
of debate among gardeners because they do have small leaves spaced
closely together and they are tough enough to take shearing. Some
gardeners don't like to see them sheared because the fine flower
display is compromised by heavy shearing done at the wrong time
of year. Evergreen azaleas are the perfect example of this. Many
selective pruners feel that azaleas should be allowed to be themselves,
but many Japanese gardeners, and others who like the tight look,
do shear them. If done at the right time, the azalea can have wonderful
flowers as well.
Don't Misuse Shearing
Aside from considerations of taste, there are other good reasons
to avoid the use and misuse of shearing as a pruning technique:
1. It locks you into a high-maintenance routine;
2. It is difficult in the long run to control the size of your shrub;
3. It is a drain on the health of the plants;
4. It subverts the purpose of many shrubs, sometimes by eliminating
their flowers, or, more unfortunately, sometimes destroying their
branch patterns and texture.
Don't Shear to Control Size
Because shearing is non-selective heading, you will stimulate bushy
regrowth. You create a twiggy outer shell on sheared plants. This
layer of twigs shades out the interior, which then becomes leafless
and full of dead leaves and dead wood. Meanwhile the outer shell
becomes thicker and larger every year because, as it is sheared
repeatedly, it must be cut a little farther out to retain its greenery.
This dense, twiggy outer shell makes size reduction difficult because
cutting back too far exposes that ugly dead zone inside the shrub.
It is also physically difficult to cut through the thick twiggy
mass. Although most plants will eventually green back up when they
are pruned back into the dead zone, but as you now know, the needled
evergreens, such as junipers, won't. Therefore, shearing is not
a good way to control the size of a shrub. Selective pruning utilizing
the thinning cut ensures that there will be a green twig or branch
to cut back to and can therefore be employed to reduce a shrub's
size while retaining its natural look.
Only Tough Plants Take Shearing
Shearing is also a drain on the health of plants. Selective pruners
spend most of their time opening up the plant to let in more light
and air and to reduce the build-up of dead wood and disease. Shearing
plants creates the antithesis of a healthy environment, making shrubs
more prone to insect attack, dead wood and dieback. It adds a general
stress on plants because the rapid, profuse growth promoted by repeated
heading depletes their energy and in their resulting weakness and
tender growth makes them more susceptible to injury from freeze
or drought. This is why care must be taken to pick plants which
are tough enough to take repeated shearing. Even then, the shearing
must commence when the plants are young to avoid the sudden stress
of shearing after they have reached maturity. Even on plants that
are appropriate to shear, the good gardener will take time to reach
inside and clean out the build-up of dead wood and dead twigs.
Shearing is High Maintenance
Another problem with shearing is that it is a high- maintenance
chore. The growth which results from the heading cuts grows rapidly
straight up and looks rather wild. Heading cuts stimulate rapid
regrowth, which soon destroys the tidy look that the first shearing
created. Although shearing the plant may take little time, it gets
undone very quickly and locks the practitioner into frequent reshearing.
When plants are selectively pruned, the new growth matches that
which already exists in the plant and looks more natural. The growth
from a selectively pruned plant continues at about the same rate.
Therefore, a selectively pruned plant stays in control longer. Shearing
is a labor-intensive form of pruning. I have even heard it compared
to drug abuse--the first time through is very gratifying and very
quick, but the unwary wielder of hedge shears will soon be locked
into a high-maintenance habit. It will take more and more shearing
to keep a plant looking its same tidy way until one day the hapless
homeowner can't see out the window or open the door blocked by a
giant ball or box. And eventually, the plant's health will begin
to show signs of deterioration.
Other Drawbacks
Aside from maintenance and health considerations, the gardener
must also consider the purpose of plants when deciding how to prune
them. Shearing often defeats the purpose of shrubbery, usually by
cutting off the flowers. But other characteristics are subverted
as well. True genius in landscaping is obtained by balancing theme
and contrast. One of the elements of contrast is texture (for example,
the fine leaves of a boxwood, the fluffy look of bridal spirea,
the bold, deep leaf of a viburnum). Shearing will eliminate contrast
of texture. Everything begins to look the same.
Lastly, shearing does great violence to plants which have been chosen
for their secondary characteristic of fine branch patterns. Such
a plant is Star Magnolia, which is valued for its flowers, but is
also valued for its beautiful branch patterns and fuzzy buds. Other
trees and shrubs highly valued for their fine branch patterns are
the double file viburnum, Harry Lauder's walking stick, Japanese
maple and Eastern dogwood. Shearing ruins them.
So, if you have a sheared hedge and do rent a pair of power shears,
restrain yourself from taking on the rest of the yard. Don't get
carried away with shear madness.
SUMMARY
Don't shear shrubs.
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