Late Spring Pruning

As you watch your perennials unfold in the garden, June is a great time to deadhead, prune, and shape your spring-flowering shrubs. The general rule-of-thumb for when to prune these shrubs is after they bloom.  The timing is important, because many of the spring bloomers produce flowers from buds generated later in the summer on last year’s growth.  So, if you wait too long (late summer or fall) for pruning, you risk interfering with next year’s flowers.

After blooming, deadhead any spring-flowering evergreen shrubs, such as camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, viburnums and cherry laurels.  Now is also a good time remove any shoots or branches that spoil symmetry.  Cut off any dead or damaged branches.

Spring-flowering deciduous shrubs, such as forsythia, mock orange, deutzia, and weigela should also be pruned after blossoming.  Cut back branches to a strong bud and any stray shoots.  On established shrubs, cut out up to one-third of the stalks (select older ones) to their base to encourage new growth.  Shape the shrubs to for symmetry as you go.