The thing that bugs me the most when I see perfectly manicured landscapes is the mow and blow way of trimming bushes and trees. The landscaper comes to the home or business monthly with his hedge clipper and clips the bush into a perfect shaped bush. I saw a bush the other day that was trimmed to have a perfect flat top and perfect round shape. It looked like one of my grandson’s wooden blocks, not a green cloud sage.
When I was a landscape designer most of my customers wanted color in their landscape. Many of the bushes I suggested had beautiful flowers. The flowers are out on the tips of the limbs. With the monthly trimmings the landscaper keeps cutting off the buds, preventing the bush from blooming. The other problem with the continued trimming is the bush becomes woody.
I much prefer to trim the bush way back when it is dormant and then let it grow back into a natural shape. It will bloom beautifully because the blooms are not being cut away. This also promotes a much healthier plant. The bush won’t be a perfect circle, but it will have a natural look it. Plus it will cost you less in landscape fees.
We live in a beautiful desert. The green cloud sage is just covered in purple blooms in August and September. It is a beautiful addition to any desert landscape not only because of the blooms but because of the unique gray, but if it is continually trimmed it won’t be able to develop the buds to be able to bloom.
