How do I trim my boxwood shrubs?
by
Deana
+5
This will be a little hard to explain do I trim my Box woods straight across, by straight across I mean from ground to top each shrub the exact same height or because of a slope (as you can see in the picture) do I trim the right shrub and gradually bring it down to the very last one to wear the first right one is higher than the very last one, I hope I'm wording this correctly, Basically there is a slope in the front of my home. You can see the slope by the sidewalk.
Deana....I think it is really up to you . I like straight across with sides straight also but to step down will look good also. We do place a tarp under ours to catch the cuttings and make clean easier. Good luck!
The way I would do it is to put a stake at each end of your row of bushes, tie a string from one stake to the other stakeand use a level to make sure your string is level. I would use this as my trim guide. Your bushes will eventually fill in leaving a nice level hedge.😀 Hope this helps.
Ours are right against the house so we line up th tops with the brick. Since yours are out a ways it probably doesn't matter. If you took out the middle ones it wouldn't be noticeable at all. Or cut 3 middle ones much shorter.
All about your preference and the look you are going for. Most people like them to appear as one plant stretching across a space.
If it were me, I'd remove them and decorate the porch and put in some flowers and low growing shrubs. I like to sit on my front porch and talk to people going by and see what is going on. If they were staying, I'd keep them all the same height. I'd trim them round, unless you're trying to block the view of the porch. It's really up to you, what do you like best?
I think the tops should be level. If they followed the slope of the sidewalk, they'd look crooked against the house behind them. I had a similar row of yews, and I used to trim them, but not into tight cubes--I leave the top and sides looking just a bit "fluffy."
I think they're a good way to give you a little privacy sitting on your porch--and you can still see over them.
I would go for a level look, but don't make the flat top wider than the sides. You can have the sides wider than the top, though.
just flatten the tops like they are/level with eaves and then square/plumb up the 2 outside edges just a little-not too much till they fill in more;trim the front sides just minimally with bottom being wider tapering up to the top line so they get more light around base/sides so they will continue to fill out/get thicker.