Q • How do I know which shrubs I can prune right now?
Determining the right time to prune your shrubs is based on what time of year your shrub flowers.
If you have shrubs that bloom in the spring, hold off pruning until after they finish flowering. These types of plants bloom on “old wood,” meaning that their flower buds develop in the previous year. This strategy allows them to quickly bloom as soon as temperatures warm up in spring. If you were to prune them now, you would remove the flower buds, thus reducing their spring floral display.
Plants that fit into this category include azalea (Rhododendron spp.), bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), oak leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), flowering quince (Chaenomeles spp.), forsythia (Forsythia spp.) spice bush (Lindera spp.), witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.) and viburnum (Viburnum spp.).
However, for plants that bloom in the summer months, late winter to early spring (late February to March) is an ideal time to prune these species. These types of plants bloom on “new wood,” meaning they generate new flower buds each year and should be pruned before their spring growth begins.
Plants that fall into this category include smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) and panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.), rose of Sharon (Hibiscus spp.) and rose (Rosa spp.
— Knock out, grandiflora, floribunda, grandiflora). For more details about how to prune your shrubs, check out the University of Missouri’s Pruning Ornamental Shrubs guide: extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6870
Write to the Missouri Botanical Garden's Center for Home Gardening at plantinformation@mobot.org or the Horticulture Answer Service, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110.
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