Jill of All Trades: Trimming shrubs and hedges as winter approaches

(WJBK) - This week, our Jill of all Trades, Jill Washburn, takes us outside and shows us some of her best tips for trimming shrubs and hedges.  Early Fall is a great time of year to do a final trim on your landscaping, so that it will look great all through the Fall and Winter.  Plus, the cooler and wetter Autumn weather makes it less stressful on your plantings.

To get a straight line for the hedge tops, some people set up a plumb line.  Jill shows us that you can skip that step by making a chalk mark on your jeans to measure against the hedge height.  That way, you're carrying your plumb line with you wherever you go in your yard, making it easy to match shrub heights in different locations.

Jill also shows us how to give a more natural look to the finished shrubs.  After she gets them to the desired height, she puts a few small random clips into the top of them (almost like a stylist does with a haircut).  It gives them a looser, leafier, more natural look.  Last, to soften the topline and make it a little less formal, Jill cuts a small bevel along the top edge.  Doing this makes the shrubs and hedges look less sculpted and more like the living things that they are.

You can watch Jill work by clicking the video player above, and see how she does all of it in quick, easy steps.