How to Prune Snowball Bushes

Snowball bushes are a type of viburnum, a spring flowering shrub that blooms on old wood. Snowball bushes should be pruned as soon as the flowers fade, this allows the shrub time to develop the buds needed to flower the next year. Only prune your snowball shrub to removed diseased, dead and broken wood. Snowball bushes can be deadheaded to keep the shrub neat, but it's not necessary. If your snowball bush has become too large for the place it is planted in, consider moving the bush to a more appropriate spot rather than giving it a severe pruning.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pruning shears
• Pruning saw
• Compost or 10-10-10 commercial fertilizer

Pruning Snowball Shrubs

1. Prune your snowball bush after the flowers have faded. Start by removing the flower heads.

2. Remove broken or dead branches 2 to 3 inches into healthy wood. Make the cut just above a bud or node.

3. Remove branches that are diseased or insect infested. Remove 2 to 3 inches past the area that is affected, cut above a bud or node.

4. Take a step back and look at your shrub. Decide the shape you want your shrub to have and remove any branches that interfere with that shape. You can cut large branches off at the ground.

5. After you have finished pruning, spread compost or a balanced 10-10-10 commercial fertilizer at the base of your snowball bush.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not remove more than one-third of the shrub at a time.

References

• Pruning Shrubs