While pruning flowering shrubs is important for their health and attractiveness, it can have negative effects if done incorrectly. Flowering shrubs are most commonly pruned incorrectly when they are overplanted or aren’t given enough room to reach their mature size, or when they are pruned by someone who doesn’t know what they are supposed to look like or how to correctly prune them. This usually involves shearing.
Repeated shearing is most often done with hedge trimmers, and invloves removing the top 2 to 3 inches of outer growth, including the flower buds. This strips away flowering shrub’s unique shape and creates a dense mat of leaves that looks like a green blob, and sometimes removes the shrub’s ability to flower at all.
Other negative effects from excessive pruning of flowering shrubs include stress to the plant’s heath, as the shrub will have to constantly work to replace the leaves lost to pruning, which are what makes the food for the plant. As a result, excessive pruning makes shrubs grow faster and use more water than those allowed to grow into their more natural shape. This repeated cycle can lead to a shortened lifespan for shrubs.
Shown: Side-by-side comparison of feathery cassia (Senna artemisioides, zone 8) shrubs; one has been formally pruned (sheared) and one has been pruned correctly
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