Many homeowners do not prune hedges properly

June is a good month to shear your hedges. Pruning hedges in June will help create a denser hedge. There likely will be more growth this season so plan on shearing again in July.

Prune formal hedges slightly wider at their base than at the top. This ensures the sides of the hedge will receive equal sun exposure and helps to keep the foliage full from top to bottom. Many hedges in the home landscape are not pruned properly and are usually wider at the top than the base.

• If your shrubs are leafing out sparsely now and there is no new growth at the base, then it will be best to only prune out the dead branches and give it more time to leaf out and fill in. At some point later this summer, you will need to make a decision as to whether it should just be replaced depending on how the shrub looks after having more time to fill in. You could also wait until late next winter to cut the shrubs back to 1 to 2 feet to try to force new growth from the base.

• Monitor and train vines such as clematis on their supports. It is best to do this on a regular basis to direct the vines where you want them to go. Once they have been allowed to grow out for a few weeks without support, it will be difficult to train them back up.

• Installation of plant material can continue through the summer. Try to keep plants moist before planting to minimize stress on the new plant material. Containerized plants can sometimes be difficult to remoisten if they are planted dry. Be sure that they have been watered before planting.

Plants that are grown in containers have a lighter growing medium that will generally dry more quickly than your garden soil; thus, they will need more frequent watering until their roots go out into the surrounding soil. Newly installed balled-and-burlapped plants need about 1 inch of water a week to get them established.

The amount and frequency of watering will vary, depending on the soil conditions in your garden and weather conditions. Sandy, very well-drained soils will dry out more quickly than heavier clay loam soils.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.