Yates Proper Pruning & Landscaping

06/17/2026

Be careful who you hire to paint your fence. My client was not happy. He did not cover any plants or mulch. Foliage covered with paint can harm or possibly kill a plant because healthy leaves are needed for photosynthesis. Inkberry hollies are resilient so I pruned it nearly to the ground. Cut back the spirea and all the hostas and Had to remove And replace painted mulch.

06/14/2026

Free strawberries!!! West side. Come After 1 PM today and
dig up as many as you want. Bring trowel and Container. PM for address.

06/13/2026

Multi-stem shrubs like viburnums Should have some of their oldest stems cut to the ground each year As well as some of the new ones coming in and anything dead, damaged or diseased (Compare the 2 photos, One Has too much crowding at the bottom, The other is after I Cut out some of them out). Otherwise they get too crowded And you'll be Unable to Remove Unhealthy ones without cutting into Others. Viburnums are beautiful shrubs that Need lots of space And lots of sun. They should never be sheared. I have pruned too many to count the past Month. These were about 15 feet tall. I cut out some of the tallest oldest branches but left most of them for next year when I will hopefully have some help. The plan for next year is to prune back to about 6 - 7 ft.

06/10/2026

Such a busy season I've had. Lots of In ground plantings, Lots of pots and lots of pruning. Here's a taste Of some of the beauty.

05/25/2026

Thank you, Veterans, for your sacrifice. And thank you, Jesus, for becoming the perfect sacrifice.

05/22/2026

Oakleaf hydrangea, My favorite flowering shrub.

05/13/2026

Planting or mulching trees too deeply can be detrimental. Check out this video, "how to mulch trees"

This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook and certified arborist Matt Foti save a tree from mulch suffocation. (See below for tools and a shopping list.) SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse Tools list for How to Properly Mulch Around a Tree: - shovel [https://amzn.t...

04/23/2026

Making 70 pots for clients this year. Here is a sampling of some I've done so far

04/20/2026

I like to save money for my clients. Lowe's has Some good deals And I have lots of planting to do. Little pint pots of annuals - vinca, marigolds, zinnias, Begonias, salvia - half price, $1 each. And perennials like coreopsis $4 each.

04/18/2026

These 8 viburnums had Previously been sheared into a hedge. Now is the time to Prune them since they recently finished blooming but it's a no-no for flowering shrubs to be sheared. Multi stemmed shrubs need to have some of their stems cut to the ground each year to prevent crowding. As you can see in one of the photos some of these Rubbing branches became grafted together And inside the shrub is bare branches void of foliage Since it's crowded and deprived of sunlight. I used my mini chainsaw to remove some But they were such a mess of tangled branches I Tugged and pulled but couldn't Get them out so I had to cut many more. For now it doesn't look so hot but will Start greening up and Look more natural and Full of flowers Next year. Pruning resulted in huge piles of trimmings.