How to Prune Summer Wine Ninebarks

Prune Summer Wine ninebarks with sharp garden clippers.

Summer Wine ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Seward’) is a deciduous flowering shrub hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 to 8. This particular cultivar grows to a mature height approximately 4 to 6 feet high. Depending on the climate, it blooms in spring or early summer. Prune Summer Wine ninebark to control growth and to encourage a fuller, more prolific flowering shrub.

Things You'll Need

• Garden clippers or pruning shears

Instructions

Pruning a First and Second Year Summer Wine Ninebark

1. Prune back the shrub by one-third to one-half of its original size. Do this after planting if the Summer Wine ninebark is tall and lanky with little growth near the bottom of the plant. Cut stems just above a set of leaves or just above the parent branches. Your shrub will not bloom this year, but you'll be rewarded with many blooms in the future. If your shrub is not tall and lanky, skip this step.

2. Pinch back or cut off the growing tips just above the first leaf sets after the stems grow 2 inches. Two stems will now grow from that branch, creating a full and compact shrub in subsequent years.

3. Continue to pinch off the growing tips whenever the stems grow another 2 inches. Stop pinching the stems in mid summer to avoid cutting off next year's buds. Repeat pinching the next growing season in a similar manner, again stopping in mid summer to avoid removing the next year's buds.

Pruning a Mature Summer Wine Ninebark

1. Prune a third year or older Summer Wine ninebark after it flowers in the late spring or early summer. Prune within two or three weeks after flowering; otherwise, you risk cutting off the next year's buds.

2. Thin a Summer Wine ninebark by pruning up to one-third of the branches. Select branches in crowded areas, as well as broken, dead, diseased and misshapen branches. Because Summer Wine ninebark is known and appreciated for its peeling bark on older branches, leave some older branches behind.

3. Cut Summer Wine ninebark branches with a pair of sharp, clean loppers or garden clippers. Make clean, thorough cuts just above the parent branches or leaf nodes.

Tips & Warnings

• Grow Summer Wine ninebark in partial to full sun.

• Add 2 to 3 inches of mulch, such as wood chips, to maintain moist soil conditions.

References

• National Home Gardening Club: Summer Wine Ninebark
• Country Living Gardener: Summer Wine
• Proven Winners: Summer Wine