The Pruninator Attacks

Can you believe there's four of these crammed in here?

I've been searching the 'net for info on how to prune yews.  Basically it sounds like it's a danged-if-you-do/danged-if-you-don't scenario.  Like many homeowners, we have inherited a poorly planned landscape that includes shrubs along the foundation that have no business being there.  In particular, our front foundation is packed with yews and a couple of viburnums, all shrubs that are just too big for their allotted space.

It sounds like if you shear yews, they get bushy on the ends and can shade out parts of the plant, killing off the leaves and leaving ugly bare stems.  If you don't shear them, they get too big which looks bad and if big enough, they become a safety hazard since burglars can hide behind them and break into windows undetected.

If you are going to prune, I've read that you want a shape where the bottoms are the widest.  However, most advice I found was to remove them and put in something more appropriately sized.

I probably should have been
more aggressive in my pruning

In theory I'm all for taking out misplaced shrubs instead of trying to control them by continual pruning but right now I don't have the funds to hire someone to remove them and buy replacements.  Also, I visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden several years ago and was enchanted by a grove of yews that were more tree-like than shrub-like.  Now I have a soft spot for yews in my heart.

So, I've decided to not pull them out (yet) and give pruning a try myself.   I opted for a hand clippers and spent the morning pruning.  I aimed for a generally globular shape which was hard to do since I suspect they had previously been sheared into the ultimate yew pruning no-no, a flattened reverse pyramid. 

I also pulled out our electric mini-chainsaw and hacked down an ugly, overgrown, diseased and poorly pruned European viburnum to the ground.  Last year I noticed several main stems dying and found borer damage at ground level, which was just one of several issues I had with this shrub.

On the 'net I found advice that viburnums should not be pruned (except in case of disease or injury) or they get ugly.  From my own experience, I'd say that's probably true.   I had to down a stiff drink though before I did it.  Long term I want to pull out this poor specimen but the birds love it. 

It's right next to the window so we've gotten to witness some amazing wildlife up close and personal...a cardinal pair and a flock of cedar waxwings that return each year routinely searching the shrub for its berries.   The brutal beating deaths of caterpillars the chickadees found curled in the shrub's leaves, which was disturbing but fascinating at the same time.  And last fall, a ruby-crowned kinglet freaked me out when I saw it among the viburnum's branches.  He had seen our cat sitting in the window and was singing and displaying his bright red head feathers which are normally hidden.  I've never seen one of these birds before so I initally thought the bird had bashed its head on the window and was bleeding but he was just facing off against Teddy.  Cheeky little bugger.  So, you can see that it has wildlife value, despite it's bad points.

Augh-it's so bare now!  What have I done?

So instead of pulling it out, I hacked it to the ground with the hope that it will send up new stems.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

And as a last note,  there's an American highbush cranberry (a native viburnum) that's growing wild on our property.  Despite no care at all, it's healthy and lovely, with beautiful fall foliage and red berries that the birds like.  It's a much nicer shrub than the European one I just hacked down.