There are two good reasons to assess your evergreen shrubs now…

1. Do they still have leftover damage from last winter?

2. Have they become overgrown?

If your shrubs still have damage from last year’s storms or if they have become overgrown, the next 6 weeks is the best time to take action.

As landscapes mature, it is typical for plant material to outgrow the intended space.

Some of the biggest offenders are in the holly family. A Dwarf Burford Holly, commonly used as a foundation plant, can reach 6’ in height and width.

But, who reads a plant label?

And, if you did read the label you were thinking: “Surely this pretty little holly will never cover up the window.”

Then a few short seasons later, you find yourself struggling to keep the holly contained to the space you intended.

Or, possibly you have done a great job of keeping them sheared to fit the space, but they no longer have the natural shape you fell in love with.

What do you do? Tear them out and start over?

Dwarf Burford Holly is commonly used as a foundation planting. If your row of holly have become overgrown late winter through early spring is the best time to reduce their size with major pruning.

Nellie Stevens Holly often look best when they are allowed to retain their natural shape. If your Nellies have become overgrown, or have lost their natural beauty from repeated shearing, mid-February through March is the time to regain their natural… — Nellie Stevens Holly often look best when they are allowed to retain their natural shape. If your Nellies have become overgrown, or have lost their natural beauty from repeated shearing, mid-February through March is the time to regain their natural shape with major pruning.

I have another solution - Mid-February through March is your opportunity to do major pruning on most broadleaf evergreens.

The broadleaf evergreen, any plant with leaves year-round, list includes aucuba, camellia, boxwood, cherry laurel, elaeagnus, holly, mahonia, photinia, just to name a few.

Heavy pruning in the spring before new growth starts allows you the opportunity to regain the shape you intended for the plant.

If your Yaupon Holly has outgrown its intended shape, now is the time for major pruning.

My first experience with major pruning of a holly was 30 years ago. A customer had a large overgrown, out-of-control, Yaupon Holly they really wanted to keep, but it was completely covering the front of the house. After a few hours of cutting limbs, pruning, and then pruning some more, the overgrown 15’ Yaupon was reduced to nothing but 5 major trunks 6’ tall.

With every major cut, I doubted my knowledge.

“Am I really doing the right thing? Or am I ruining a perfectly good plant that took years to develop?”

A few weeks later, I visited the site. The Yaupon Holly’s trunks were budding.

On my next visit, the branches were covered with new growth.

And, by the end of the season, the customer’s house which had been hiding behind an overgrown plant for years, was now gracefully accented by a small evergreen tree.

A couple of years ago I heavily pruned a large Nellie Stevens Holly on one corner of my house. And, as I do every time, I take a broadleaf evergreen back to no leaves and only major branches, I keep asking,

“What if this holly doesn’t re-leaf?”

“Am I ruining a 15-year-old Nellie?”

But, once again the shrub responded just like it should, and within one growing season, it returned to its natural beauty.