I don't get the "prune shrubs into a ball shape" thing.

Here are two nanking cherry shrubs in my neighbourhood.  Which one do you think looks better?  The one that looks like it is exploding with flowers or the one that is painfully trying to bloom on the tips of its unnaturally sheared branches?

I definitely have an opinion on this!!  Fine, prune your shrubs into neat, trim shapes if you are using them for a formal hedge or you are into topiary or something.  But otherwise, there is no need!  It is less work and I think the shrub looks much nicer if you let it take its natural shape.  Instead, prune out some of the older wood once in a while by cutting out the thickest branches right from the base of the shrub, removing the odd crossing branch, and that's about it.
Of course, I guess it's a matter of taste.  What do you think?

Comments

[jackalyn]

Thanks for mentioning this common mistake- I drill this into my students all the time! kind of defeats the purpose of growing a shrub when you shear it into a ball!