If you want to encourage new growth to your tired plants, consider pruning them.  There are many ways to prune plants depending on the plant that you are dealing with.  Perennials should be hand pruned by dead heading the plant.  Remove dead flowers and stems by hand or with hand snips.  Removing the dead flowers will help encourage new growth in the plant.  If you want to encourage new growth in shrubs, consider pruning them with hand shears or a hedge trimmer.  If you prune your shrubs at the right time of year, you may create new growth in the plant.  If you plant is over grown, it may not produce the new growth that a pruned plant would.

Encourage New Growth

Encourage new growth to deciduous plants.

If you have deciduous shrubs on your property, you can encourage new growth in these plants by pruning them.  If you have large over growth over shadowing the rest of the plant, it does not encourage new growth.  Pruning back large and over grown branches will encourage new growth in the plant.  With in a few weeks of pruning, you should start to see new growth in the plant.  For example a red twig dogwood shrub can become woody over time.  Cutting back some of the woody branches will encourage new growth from these areas.  A simple task such as shaping this plant with hedge trimmers can also encourage new growth.  Lilac shrubs can also become woody over time.  Like most pruning projects, you do not want to remove over 1/3 of the plant in one cutting.  Some exceptions to the rule are a full cut back of the plant.  If you want to completely remove all of the woody branches, you can cut them down to the ground.  Most of the time in lilac’s the base of the plant will sprout new growth.  Sometimes this technique does not produce the desired results and the plant dies.  You have a better chance than not of having a brand new plant in a few years after a complete cut down.  Make sure that you know what plant you are dealing with first, before you make any cuts.  Also make sure that you are willing to take the risk of the plant dying.