Roughly around late last October or early November I trimmed a loropetalum, japanese yew and sasanqua. These are plants I have been trimming over the last three years and the periphery of the plants had become very dense and occasionally some of the lateral branches were dying, some to the extent this would leave a gaping hole, awkward and unattractive.
Almost all of us appreciate a well-trimmed and shaped shrub or small tree if perhaps it can or should be, but all that wonderful trimming can result in a dense, almost opaque covering for the interior of the plant that tends to slow or kill interior growth, which the plant naturally wouldn't incur.
I truly wanted to experience what I have studied and learned, but in a more focused fashion.
The sasanqua, because it is an early spring bloomer off of old wood, I actually didn't trim, but pruned in the same fashion entirely one half of the plant running down the vertical axis from the top of the crown to the lower canopy just to see what difference would occur other than the plant being less dense. Very few blooms were lost and she looked great in the spring.
The results I expected based on the physiology of plants and here's the wonderful part - I saw no need to trim these plants, which I'm usually trimming every two weeks beginning sometime in April, until around June 21.The images you see were taken just a few days ago, roughly a month after the only time I have trimmed them this year. I shot these photos prior to trimming just to show what new growth has occurred above the periphery - very, very little compared to prior years. Most of the new growth is occurring in the interior of the plant now - happier plants.
Last year I would have already needed to trim them eight times by now, compared to two times this year.
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