10/07/2026
To prune or not to prune, that is the question! NOT everything should be cut back during Central Texas autumn 🍂
To prune:
✔️ Hedges and shrubs that have gotten leggy or out of shape (boxwood, holly, Indian hawthorn). Light shaping only.
✔️ Roses, after the first cool snap. Cut back by one-third to clean up the bush before dormancy.
✔️ Dead, damaged, or diseased wood on any species. Always prune this out.
✔️ Crepe myrtles that need shaping, but only to remove dead wood and suckers. Skip the “crepe murder.”
NOT to prune:
✖️ Spring-flowering shrubs (azalea, forsythia, viburnum). Pruning now removes next year’s flower buds.
✖️ Live oak and red oak trees. Oak wilt risk drops in mid-winter, so save major oak pruning for January and February.
✖️ Hydrangeas that bloom on old wood. Same reason as the spring flowers.
✖️ Anything you are uncertain about. Wrong-time pruning is almost always worse than no pruning.
For more tips on this topic, check out our blog: https://lawnsltd.com/fall-tree-shrub-care-central-texas/
