How to Prune Flowering Shrubs

For many the idea of pruning their lovely shrubs is fraught with the fear of ruining the appearance of the shrub. Nonsense. Shrubs that are left untended turn into scraggly masses of branches that fail to produce abundant flowers. Those they do produce are usually lacking in color and in size. Pruning actually brings new life to flowering shrubs. By following a few basic guidelines, you can learn how to prune your flowering shrubs.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Clippers

1. Prune early spring flowering shrubs immediately after blooming. Simply clip off the spent flowers and trim branches to the desired shape. Bear in mind that cutting the top from branches will force the plant to create new side growth.

2. Remove any dark-colored canes right from the surface of the soil. This will allow fresh growth the room it needs to mature.

3. Prune the entire shrub once it reaches the desire height by clipping back the ends of all branches.

4. Prune summer and fall blooming shrubs in early spring before new growth begins.

5. Cut shrubs that have become overgrown and tangled completely to the ground in early spring to encourage healthy new growth.

6. Shrubs like lilacs sent up new suckers each year. Remove some of the suckers and allow others to grow to assure that you have young trees to replace the old dying ones. Prune old and misshapen branches out of lilacs to increase air circulation and allow sunshine to reach the center of the bush.

Tips & Warnings

• Clip spent lilac blooms just below the stem of the cluster to force the growth of two new growing tips for the next season. The lilac will produce two blooms instead of one next year!