Hello:
I have some bushes in front of my house that provide a nice shade, but I think they need trimmed. I don't want to kill them and am not sure how to make them grow to be more full. Can anyone help me identify them, or point me in the right direction on how to care for them properly?
thank you in advance.
https://s17.postimage.org/tyepqilf3/IMG_0854_1.jpg
https://s18.postimage.org/ga63yesqx/IMG_0855_1.jpg
https://s18.postimage.org/maz7hqpzd/IMG_0856_1.jpg
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Potatoes is correct and the berries are toxic, so I would not pick them unless it is to keep this very invasive plant from spreading any further than it has already. I would take it out if it was mine but if your keeping it, cutting it back to a stump and allowing it to sucker back on it's own would be the way to grow a dense hedge. It can be done over a period of several years to reduce the shock to the plant, taking out about one-third of the shrub down to the ground each year. Suckers will soon form and should be trimmed to forced branching and eventually sheared to form the actual hedge.