Shrub & Hedge Trimming and Privacy Hedge Installation in Woodland, WA

If you need shrub and hedge trimming in Woodland, WA, the timing and the shape matter more than how sharp the shears are. A hedge cut at the wrong time pushes out tender growth or invites disease, and a hedge trimmed narrower at the bottom than the top slowly goes bare at the base. We trim on a schedule that suits each plant and shape every hedge so light reaches all the way down.

Bogar Landscaping trims laurel, arborvitae, boxwood, photinia and mixed shrub borders for homes and commercial properties across Clark and Cowlitz County. We also plant new privacy hedges, like the arborvitae row along the fence in our photos.

What Our Shrub & Hedge Trimming in Woodland, WA Includes

• Shearing formal hedges to straight, level lines.
• Hand pruning of broadleaf hedges like laurel where shearing would leave cut, browning leaves.
• Shaping shrubs back off windows, walks, siding and driveways.
• Height reduction and renovation for hedges that have gotten away from you.
• Dead and broken wood removed from inside the plant.
• Cleanup. Clippings raked out of beds and lawn, blown off hard surfaces and hauled away.

For hedges on a seasonal schedule, trimming pairs well with our yard cleanup and seasonal maintenance visits.

Signs Your Hedges Need Attention

• The bottom is bare while the top is thick and wide.
• It has outgrown its space, blocking a walk, a window or the view from the driveway.
• Brown or spotted leaves keep spreading, a sign of disease or poor airflow.
• Snow or ice splayed it open, leaving gaps in a privacy screen.
• Berries are forming on laurel, which birds carry into nearby woods.

When to Trim Hedges in Western Washington

For most evergreens, WSU Extension advises general pruning in late winter or early spring, just before new growth begins, with dead or broken wood removed any time of year. Fast growers may need an extra light trim during the growing season, and narrow-leaf evergreens can take a second pruning in June before new growth hardens.

Plant by plant:

• Laurel: major cutbacks in spring. The UW Botanic Gardens plant answer line, citing pruning expert Cass Turnbull, advises avoiding heavy pruning on hot July or August days.
• Arborvitae: early spring, with a light touch-up later in the season if needed.
• Boxwood: early spring, on dry days.
• Photinia: avoid summer pruning, which pushes a flush of new growth that is especially prone to leaf spot.

Nesting birds

Dense hedges are prime nesting cover in spring and early summer. Under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act it is unlawful to take a migratory bird's nest or eggs. Doing heavy cutbacks in late winter, before nesting starts, avoids most conflicts. For trims during the season, we look through the hedge first, and if we find an active nest we leave that section until the young have left.

How We Trim a Hedge, Step by Step

1. Check for nests and for anything hidden in the hedge: wires, sprinkler heads, fence tops.
2. Set the height and lines. We agree on the finished size with you before cutting.
3. Shape it wider at the base than the top. A slight taper lets sun reach the lower branches, which keeps the bottom green.
4. Shear or hand-prune depending on the plant. Small-leaf hedges get sheared. Big-leaf laurel looks better hand-pruned.
5. Thin the inside where dead wood or crowding blocks airflow.
6. Clean tools between properties, and between plants when disease is present.
7. Rake, blow and haul every clipping.

Laurel, Arborvitae, Boxwood and Photinia Compared

If you would rather not add more laurel, our native plant landscaping page covers screening plants that belong here.

Privacy Hedge Installation

On the yard in our photos, we planted a row of arborvitae along the fence as part of a full restoration, with new sod and a curved planting bed in front. That is our usual approach: a privacy hedge works best when the soil, drainage and watering are planned along with it.

How we install a privacy hedge:

1. Pick the plant for the spot. Height you need, width you can spare, sun or shade, and how much trimming you want to do.
2. Call 811 before digging, as Washington's dig law requires.
3. Prep the planting line. Loosen compacted soil, fix drainage on wet ground and add organic matter.
4. Plant and space for a full screen at mature width, rather than a crowded look on day one.
5. Mulch and water. Bark dust over the root zone and a drip line through the dry months. See drip irrigation installation.

WSU notes that new shrubs need one to two years to establish, and that fall planting works well here. Steady summer water in those first seasons is what gets a hedge to fill in.

Hedges in Woodland Yards: Clay, Rain and Ice

Much of the lowland around Woodland sits on heavy soil. The Caples silty clay loam found in the Woodland Bottoms has slow permeability and a seasonal water table 1.5 to 2.5 feet down from November through April. Arborvitae and boxwood planted in a low, wet line tend to decline, so on ground like that we raise the planting area or add drainage first.

Winter is the other test. Ice and wet snow put heavy loads on hedges, and the January 2024 ice storm, part of a federal disaster declaration for Cowlitz and Clark County, is a recent example. A hedge kept to a manageable height with a tapered top sheds snow and ice better than a tall, flat-topped one.

What Affects the Cost of Hedge Trimming and Privacy Hedges

• Length and height. Tall hedges need ladders or staging and take longer.
• How overgrown it is. A maintenance trim is quick. A renovation cut produces far more debris.
• Plant type. Hand-pruning laurel takes longer than shearing arborvitae.
• Access. Hedges against fences, over beds or on slopes slow the work.
• Haul volume and disposal for the clippings.
• For new hedges: plant size, number of plants, soil prep, drainage and irrigation.

Shrubs that have grown into small trees may need our tree trimming and pruning service instead.