Shrub & Hedge Trimming in Bethesda, MD

Shrub & Hedge Trimming for Bethesda Homes and Estates

Crisp hedges and well-shaped shrubs do more for a home than almost any other maintenance. A clipped boxwood border along a brick walk, a tall holly screen at the property line or a row of azaleas under the front windows sets the tone for the whole property. Keeping them that way takes regular, skilled trimming. Shear too late and the hedge outgrows its shape. Shear too hard and it goes bare inside. Shear the wrong plant and you remove next spring's flowers.

Shrub and hedge crews match the method to the plant. Formal hedges of boxwood, holly, yew and privet are sheared to clean lines, with the base kept slightly wider than the top so lower branches get light and stay full. Flowering shrubs like azaleas, rhododendrons, forsythia and lilacs are hand pruned shortly after bloom to keep their natural form. Overgrown shrubs can often be renewed over two or three years by removing a few old stems each season instead of cutting everything back at once.

Bethesda gardens, from Kenwood and Chevy Chase to Burning Tree and Carderock Springs, rely heavily on evergreen structure, and boxwood is everywhere. Because boxwood blight is present in the region, crews clean and sanitize tools between properties and avoid trimming boxwood when foliage is wet. Most properties need hedge work two or three times a year, with a main shaping in late spring and a lighter tidy in late summer.