Trees, Shrubs and Hedge Care for Spring

Spring is the perfect time to give your garden a refresh so it's ready for the warmer months. While you're planting your chosen bulbs and getting patio furniture ready for its big summer comeback, don't forget your all-important shrubs, hedges and trees.
To ensure your garden is in perfect shape this season, we've put together this handy guide to clear up any uncertainty around when the best time is to cut your hedges, shrubs and trees, and the RYOBI tools you need to get the job done right.

Before you even pull your gardening tools out of the shed for pruning hedges in spring, let's establish some non-negotiable rules. Getting these initial steps right is the key to a healthy garden and will put your mind at ease.

Nesting bird check

This is a legal requirement. As stated in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and in the EU Birds Directive, it is an offence to intentionally damage or destroy an active bird's nest in the UK and wider Europe.
Before you start any work, you must physically and audibly check your hedges, shrubs and trees for any signs of active nests. If you find one, you must delay your spring pruning plans. The job can wait a few weeks until the chicks have fledged.

Shaping hedges for the season

Spring is the ideal time to give your evergreen hedges their first cut of the year.
The goal here is a light maintenance trim to tidy up any straggly winter growth and encourage a thick, dense exterior.
For deciduous hedges, a spring tidy-up helps clear the way for new green leaves. Just remember to keep your cuts shallow at this time of year to avoid stressing the plant before the summer heat hits.

Spring v summer flowering shrubs

The best time to prune depends entirely on when the plant flowers:

• Rule for summer-flowering shrubs: Plants that flower in summer (like buddleia, hydrangea and lavatera) do so on new growth (the stems that grow this spring). This means you should prune them in early spring to encourage lots of new, flower-bearing stems.
• Rule for spring-flowering shrubs: Plants that flower in spring (like forsythia, azalea and rhododendron) do so on old growth (the stems they grew last year). If you prune them now, you will cut off all of this year's flowers. You must wait and prune them immediately after they have finished flowering.

Safe plants to prune

No matter the plant or the season, there are certain types of pruning you can always do. Grab your secateurs and inspect your plants, it's always safe to cut out any branches or stems that are:

• Dead
• Diseased (look for signs of discolouration, wilting, dark spots and decay)
• Damaged

This improves the plant's health, stops disease from spreading and tidies its appearance instantly.

Your essential spring pruning kit

Having the right tool for the job makes the work quicker, easier and safer. With the RYOBI ONE+™ system, you don't need different batteries and chargers cluttering your shed. One battery fits all.
Here's your essential spring line-up:

• Hedge trimmers: Your go-to tool for shaping hedges and getting those clean, sharp lines. A lightweight RYOBI hedge trimmer is perfect for a spring tidy-up, giving you precision without fatigue.
• Pole saws: For any pruning that's out of reach. This is the essential tool for safely removing dead, damaged or crossing branches from trees while your feet are firmly on the ground. A pole saw gives you metres of reach, so you can forget the wobbly ladder.
• Pruning saws: When you encounter a branch that's too thick for loppers but too small for a full chainsaw, a cordless RYOBI 18V ONE+™ pruning saw is ideal. It's powerful enough to get through thick, dead branches cleanly, yet light enough to tackle various cutting heights.
• Secateurs or loppers: Your most-used tools for pruning shrubs. Secateurs are for precision cuts on stems to enable the plants to quickly heal, while loppers provide the leverage to cut through thicker branches.

Spring hedge trimming is typically about 'shaping' rather than cutting them back hard. If your hedge has gotten completely out of control, it's better to save that job for late autumn or winter.
For a spring tidy-up, here's the professional method.

Step 1: Lay a tarp

This is the pro tip that will save you potentially hours of clean-up. Before you start, lay an old sheet or tarpaulin along the base of the hedge to catch the clippings. When you're done, you can simply fold it up and dispose of the clippings in one go – no raking!

Step 2: Check for nests (again!)

Give the hedge a final, thorough check for any signs of wildlife before you power on your tool.

Step 3: Tackle the sides

Always trim the sides first, starting from the bottom and working upwards in a smooth, sweeping motion. This ensures the cuttings fall away and you can see what you're doing.
A lightweight hedge trimmer is perfect for this, giving you maximum control without tiring your arms. Keep the blade parallel to the hedge.

Step 4: Get a level top

This is the part everyone wants to get right. For that perfect, crisp line, a longer trimmer blade gives you a straighter, more even edge.

Top tips:

• Use a string line between two canes to give you a perfectly straight guide to follow.
• Use a RYOBI tool with an integrated HedgeSweep™ attachment. This clever addition clears the clippings from the top of the hedge as you go, so you don't have to go back and do it by hand.

Step 5: Taper the hedge

This is the secret to a long-lasting, healthy hedge. You should aim to cut the hedge so that it is slightly wider at the bottom than it is at the top. This ensures that sunlight can reach the lower branches and promotes even growth.

This is where the golden rule of spring shrub trimming comes into play. It's all about when they flower.

For summer-flowering shrubs

These include popular shrubs like buddleia, many hydrangeas, lavatera and spiraea. They produce flowers on the new stems they are about to grow this season.
This means early spring is the perfect time to prune them. Pruning them now encourages a burst of healthy new, flower-bearing stems, which means a bigger, better display in summer.

For spring-flowering shrubs

This includes all your spring showstoppers like forsythia, rhododendrons, azaleas, weigela and kerria.
These plants are the opposite of the group above. They flower on the stems that grew last year. This means all their beautiful flower buds are on the plant right now, just waiting to burst open. If you prune them now, you will cut off every single flower for this year.
The right time to prune them is immediately after the last flower fades in late spring.

For evergreen shrubs

Evergreens don't fall into the same flower-based rules. For these, you just need to wait until late spring, once all risk of hard frost has passed. A late frost can scorch new cuts and damage the tender new growth.
A light trim is all that's needed to maintain their form and keep them looking sharp. For this kind of precise, detailed work, lightweight cordless shears and shrubbers let you shape topiary and tidy up edges with perfect control.

Spring is for light maintenance on trees, not major surgery. Dead, diseased and damaged plants are your main target.
Use a cordless pruning saw – it's lightweight and versatile, yet powerful enough to cleanly cut through thick, dead branches. See a problem branch overhead? This is exactly what a pole saw was made for. They give you metres of reach, letting you cut problem branches cleanly and safely from a solid base.

A good job includes a tidy finish. All those clippings you caught on your tarp can be bundled away, but what about the rest?

• On paths and patios: A RYOBI cordless blower is the tool for the job. It will clear all the small leaves, dust and clippings from your patio, paths and driveway in seconds.
• On the lawn: You can use a blower to collect the debris or, to make the task easier, a blower vacuum that gathers the leaves as your work.
• Deal with the waste: A RYOBI shredder turns that mountain of cuttings into a manageable pile of chipped mulch, which is perfect for spreading on your garden beds to retain moisture and suppress weeds.

With the right knowledge and tools, you can turn spring pruning from a chore into one of the most satisfying jobs in the garden. It sets the stage for a summer of healthy growth, beautiful flowers and tidy hedges.
Ready to get your garden in shape? Explore our full range of outdoor garden tools– from hedge trimmers and pole saws to secateurs and blowers – and transform your outdoor space quickly and efficiently.