Pruning keeps your plants in Ohio healthy and resilient, but it can be easy to get carried away and over-prune them. Over-pruning your plants can result in stunted growth, reduced foliage, and increased interior sprouting. These signs indicate that your plants may be struggling to recover from excessive pruning. Plants that are pruned excessively will have stunted growth because they won't have enough energy to recover. Over-pruning also disrupts your plants' ability to efficiently develop new leaves, resulting in a significant and long-term decrease in foliage. Lastly, interior sprouting happens when you've over-pruned your plants, which is their way to compensate for the loss of too many branches and leaves!

Over-pruned plants will have stunted growth.

If you notice that your plants are not growing as they should, it could be a sign that you over-pruned them. Over-pruning disrupts your plants' natural development, depletes their energy, and weakens their overall structure. Removing too many leaves during pruning also slows down photosynthesis, which is your plants' ability to generate their food and energy through light.

Without enough energy, generating new growth becomes difficult for your plants. This can result in shorter, weaker plants that are unable to reach their full potential. Cutting back excessive branches, limbs, and leaves can also affect plant roots. With fewer canopy materials, the roots receive fewer signals to expand, leading to an imbalance and undersized growth.

Over-pruning your plants can result in reduced foliage.

Leaves of a maple tree in Delaware, OH.

Another sign that you may have over-pruned your plants is a reduction in foliage. When you prune a plant, you are removing some of its leaves and branches. If you remove too much, the plant may not be able to produce enough new growth to replace what was lost. This can result in a plant that looks sparse and unhealthy. If you notice that they are not producing as much foliage as they should be, it may be time to reevaluate your pruning techniques and make adjustments as needed.

Over-pruned plants have an increase in interior sprouting.

Another sign that you may have over-pruned your plants is an increase in interior sprouting. When you remove too much, the plant may start to grow new sprouts internally rather than on the tips of the limbs. This is their way of making up for the loss of parts to try and generate more energy.

However, these new shoots in the interior part of the plants grow to become unproductive and lack structural integrity. Instead of developing on the plants' branches and stems, these new sprouts emerge on the main trunk and framework. As a result, they compete for nutrients from the entire plant without contributing. Oftentimes, interior sprouting also overcrowds the plants and affects proper airflow and sunlight penetration.

Interior sprouts rarely develop into strong branches, creating an imbalanced plant structure.

Call us today to schedule our trimming and pruning service!

Pruning is a crucial part of plant maintenance. It removes problematic parts from your plants to stop health issues from spreading and promote new, healthy growth. Let our team handle this task for you. Here at Hoffmans Lawn & Fertilization, we offer a professional trimming and pruning service to help keep your plants' health and appearance in check. Because pruning focuses on plant health, we only do this when they need it to ensure we don't cause more harm to their growth.

Our trimming and pruning service is available to homeowners and business owners, along with HOAs, in Delaware, Lewis Center, Powell, and nearby areas in Ohio. Call us today at (740) 318-5296 to schedule our trimming and pruning service, and let us help you achieve the beautiful and healthy landscape you deserve.