[mtdman]

Yep, another bush trimming thread. This is the job I did today. I was slated to trim the whole yard later this week, but she was cited by the city for blocking the sidewalk. Real pain in the butt with all the thorns.

 

[mtdman]

Here's the other side.

 

[Gr grass n Hi tides]

Nice job, man. It takes a good eye to trim hedges well.

 

[Live4Mowin']

great job man, that looks a lot better.

 

[Phishook]

Not that I'm the expert Bush Trimmer...

But when you prune hedges, try to slope them outward as you go down. Being wider at the bottoms lets those branches get some sun. Other wise, the bottom will start to die off over time.

 

[fblandscape]

No sir. I don't like it.

 

[stslawncare]

looks nice. big improvement

 

[crawdad]

Ain't it funny how different people look at shrubs and say they like it or they don't like it. The "bigger at the top" look does seem to work in this case. I think it looks good. The important thing is, how does the customer like it?
Crawdad

 

[Gravely_Man]

That is a huge change of what they had before. How long did it take you to do that section of bushes/


Gravely_Man

 

[mtdman]

Originally posted by Phishook
Not that I'm the expert Bush Trimmer...

But when you prune hedges, try to slope them outward as you go down. Being wider at the bottoms lets those branches get some sun. Other wise, the bottom will start to die off over time.

Boy, I've never heard of that. Usually people want bushes that slope the other way, in from top to bottom.

The whole job took me about 3 hours, start to finish, including cleanup. By myself.

Thanks for all the nice comments, btw.

 

[drobson]

I think it looks great, and will improve considerably over time with regular maintenance. The thing to remember is that it's a shock to the plant to have that much taken off all at once. This type of trimming isn't supposed to be a regular occurance.

Nice job, major improvement.

 

[Rtom45]

I agree with Phishook, although you may not be able to do that the first time you work on the hedge. In any case, your goal should be at least vertical if you're not able to taper from bottom to top. We always instruct our people to taper everything they cut with hedge shears. The problem with pruning too much at the bottom is that you start to loose lower limbs because they shade out, then you have even fewer lower limbs to work with.

 

[GreenMachine102]

Tommorow I have bushes simular to that to cut for a nice old lady, same size too, how much did you charge????

I also got to trim some bushes next door at another old ladys house, she has about 17 bushes ranging from small to large sizes, how much should I charge these ladys??? Usually I do it for about 20 bucks, is that way too cheap???? It takes me about 3 hrs.


PS. -LOOKS GREAT MAN!

 

[Doc Pete]

Originally posted by mtdmaster
Boy, I've never heard of that. Usually people want bushes that slope the other way, in from top to bottom.

See that, you "are" learning something. Yes, you want to slope in toward the top for the reasons the other guy's give.
Also, an inward slope rather that "out" allows more leaf exposure when it rains and lets the plant get a "better drink".
And, since plants tend to have their "feeder" roots at the base line of the width of the plant, the wider leaf coverage at the bottom helps protect the feeder roots from the direct heat and drying effects of the sun.
Hope this helps,
Pete

 

[crawdad]

Originally posted by GreenMachine102
Tommorow I have bushes simular to that to cut for a nice old lady, same size too, how much did you charge????

I also got to trim some bushes next door at another old ladys house, she has about 17 bushes ranging from small to large sizes, how much should I charge these ladys??? Usually I do it for about 20 bucks, is that way too cheap???? It takes me about 3 hrs.

PS. -LOOKS GREAT MAN!

Let's see, three hours, for twenty bucks. If you worked all day at that rate, you could make over fifty bucks! Yes, that is a little bit low, although those little ol' ladies would think you're making a killing.
Crawdad

 

[Phishook]

Originally posted by mtdmaster
Boy, I've never heard of that. Usually people want bushes that slope the other way, in from top to bottom.

Sir, now you have from a few of us. But why take my word for it? I'm just a Boy on the computer. Go take some Horticulture classes, or get a book and read it and see for your self.

Then you could offer your customers a better service and explain the benefits.

 

[Harry0]

Pruning tecniqes vary depending on shrubs. A general rule for all shrubs is wider on the bottom-for the reasons mentioned and in addition I beleive(not 100%) it also helps with preventing breakage during heavy snows-the shrub in the picture looks like privot-in time you will lose bottom branches-It looks good but I would prune differently next time-Harry

 

[Gr grass n Hi tides]

Originally posted by GreenMachine102
Tommorow I have bushes simular to that to cut for a nice old lady, same size too, how much did you charge????

I also got to trim some bushes next door at another old ladys house, she has about 17 bushes ranging from small to large sizes, how much should I charge these ladys??? Usually I do it for about 20 bucks, is that way too cheap???? It takes me about 3 hrs.

Cripes! $20 for 3 hrs= minimum wage (or thereabout). 3 hrs. for me would be between $150 - $180 plus a disposal fee on top of that.

 

[cantoo]

mtdmaster, how long and high was the hedge when you started? Also do you lay down sheets before you started to catch most of the clippings? My wife always does this and it makes cleanup much easier.

 

[mtdman]

Originally posted by Phishook
Sir, now you have from a few of us. But why take my word for it? I'm just a Boy on the computer. Go take some Horticulture classes, or get a book and read it and see for your self.

Then you could offer your customers a better service and explain the benefits.

Why the hostility? I wasn't insulting you, I meant "Boy" as in "Man, Dude, etc", not in a mean way. I just said I never heard of that, nor have I ever seen it done, bushes cut wider on the bottom than on the top. And I'm not quite sure how I'd cut bushes wider on the bottom than the top when they were growing much wider on top than on the bottom to begin with. They were only about 18 inches to 2 feet wide on the bottom, 3 to 4 feet wide on top. I wouldn't think that would be good for the bushes. Even going horizontal would have left the top area mostly bald and sparse. They were seriously overgrown, as you can see, over my head in height. If anyone could provide a picture of this technique, I'd be greatful.

I'm probably going to charge her $100 for that, the 3 hours includes mowing time. I have more bushes to trim for her in her yard, I was just doing that hedgerow for her because of the city's complaint. The rest won't be as difficult. As I have said before, stuff like this I try to get $30 to $40 /hour, and usually give the hourly rate rather than a total in estimate.

When I do disposal like for a bush trimming, edging, etc, I don't take the yard waste for dumping. Here they have yard waste pickup with the trash, in brown recycle bags. Since the city picks that up for free, and charges me to go to the dump, I bag the yard waste and leave it for the client. Never had a problem with it. Once I did a dethatching and had 46 bags of dead grass I pulled out of the lawn. Trash picked them all up without blinking. Of course, I charge for the bagging time and cost of bags.