Published September 16, 2026
Trim most shrubs in late winter, just before new growth pushes, and trim spring bloomers right after they flower. That rule holds across Georgetown and the rest of Central Texas. What catches homeowners here are the two things it leaves out: an oak wilt window that closes on the first of February, and an August stop most people trim straight through.
Late winter, roughly January into February, for most of what grows in a Central Texas yard. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's Travis County office puts it plainly: late winter, just before the emergence of new spring growth, is the best pruning time for many plants in the home landscape. The time to avoid, per AgriLife's Earth-Kind guide, is immediately after new growth develops in spring.
A dormant shrub has its reserves stored in wood and roots, so a cut made then sends the spring flush into the shape you left. A cut made in April throws away growth the plant already paid for.
Yes, and it is the one exception worth memorizing. Spring-flowering shrubs bloom on last season's growth, so AgriLife's Earth-Kind guidance is to prune them soon after they bloom; a winter cut removes the flower buds. Summer bloomers flower on shoots that grow the same spring, so they belong in the late-winter group, with one caution from the same guide: do not cut them back too early, because a flush of growth could freeze.
Travis County Extension's quick reference chart sorts the common Central Texas plants this way.
| Group | Examples | When to trim |
|---|---|---|
| Summer-flowering shrubs and trees | Crape myrtle, desert willow, vitex, abelia, althea, Texas sage, repeat-blooming roses | January to February, while dormant |
| Winter and spring bloomers | Redbud, Texas mountain laurel, Mexican buckeye, flowering quince, viburnum, once-blooming roses | April to June, after flowering |
| Broadleaf and needleleaf evergreens | Boxwood, cherry laurel, ligustrum, photinia, yaupon, juniper, pittosporum, wax myrtle | Anytime, to hold form and size |
| Berrying evergreens | Holly, pyracantha, yaupon | Lightly in spring, again in summer if needed, without cutting off bloom clusters or small fruit |
Before the new growth exceeds 1 foot, and sooner on slow growers like boxwood. That is the Earth-Kind rule, and it is a growth rule rather than a calendar rule, which is why a ligustrum hedge in Round Rock needs more visits between April and August than in winter. Past that point, in AgriLife's words, excessive untrimmed growth will kill lower leaves and pull the hedge out of shape.
Shape matters as much as frequency. Hedges should be wider at the base than at the top, because a hedge is forever attempting to grow top heavy, and a top-heavy hedge shades its own base until the bottom goes bare. Earth-Kind describes the shape the plant wants as a rounded or slightly pointed top with sides slanting to a wide base; flat tops and vertical sides are seldom successful. A formal sheared hedge also needs more regular shearing to hold its lines than a shrub kept in bounds with thinning cuts.
About August. Travis County Extension's guidance is to stop trimming plants by about August, to avoid encouraging a late-season flush of growth that would be prone to cold injury from an early freeze. A shrub sheared in September answers with tender new leaves, and the first freeze burns them back. Light touch-ups, a gangly cane or a shoot over the walk, can be trimmed whenever they appear; it is the hard shaping that stops.
Most Georgetown yards get this wrong: growth is still fast in September, the hedge looks like it needs a cut, and the cut sets up the damage.
No. To prevent the spread of oak wilt, oaks should not be pruned between February 1 and June 30, and every wound should be painted, whatever the month. Both rules come from AgriLife Extension and the Texas A&M Forest Service, and they apply to the low-branch trimming a maintenance crew does as much as to a full tree job. The Forest Service's summary is that sap-feeding beetles carry the fungus to fresh wounds and are very active in late winter and early spring.
The stakes are high in Williamson County. Texas A&M Forest Service reports that oak wilt is killing millions of trees across 76 counties of Texas, that it spreads an average of 75 feet per year through connected roots, and that a red oak can die in as little as one month. The Forest Service lists lawnmower and string trimmer wounds alongside pruning cuts as entry points, which is worth remembering every time a mower deck bumps a trunk. Paint immediately, not hours later.
Leave them alone, mostly. AgriLife's Williamson County office calls the annual topping of crape myrtles crape murder. Topping is not necessary for bloom; it delays the blooms, creates weak limbs where the new growth comes out, and leaves knobby scars at every cut. Appropriate pruning is limited to suckers at ground level and branches that are crossed and rubbing or touching a structure or roof, done in the dormant January to February window.
If a crape myrtle is too tall for its spot, the extension answer is to replace it with a variety that fits, since they come in sizes from three feet tall to 35 feet tall.
Bring them back in stages, before spring growth starts. Earth-Kind's method for an old, overgrown shrub is to remove one-third of the oldest, tallest branches at or slightly above ground level before new growth begins, then repeat in following years. A broadleaf evergreen hedge can be cut back one-half to one-third of its height just before spring growth, and an overgrown deciduous hedge to 1 foot below the height you want, in spring before the leaves appear. Some narrow-leaved evergreens will not recover and have to be replaced.
A schedule does, and it is easier to keep than to catch up on. Recurring trimming maintenance puts the late-winter shaping, the growing-season hedge visits and the August stop on the calendar, with the oak wilt window built in, and pairs with landscape maintenance in the same beds. If your Georgetown, Round Rock or Leander property has shrubs that have gotten ahead of you, we will recommend a cadence that suits the plants and the season.
CTX Mowing keeps shrubs, hedges and low tree growth shaped on a recurring schedule that follows the Central Texas calendar. Get a free quote today.
