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When to Prune Trees, Shrubs and Flowers

September 21, 2021 by Jeanne

When to prune trees, shrubs, and other plants is one of the biggest questions gardeners ask. They’re afraid to prune plants at the wrong time of year. Will it hurt them? What if I accidentally cut off all of the flowers?

First, try not to worry too much about when to prune. There’s a simple and easy to remember rule of thumb that I’ll teach you. Plus, I’ve put together a downloadable sheet that you can save and refer to at any time that lists common trees and shrubs and the right time to prune them.

Pruning Basics

A quick refresher – if you haven’t read the other posts about pruning in this series, you may want to read them or watch the videos I’ve put together. These cover:

  • What Is Pruning?
  • Pruning Tools
  • When to Prune Trees, Shrubs and Flowers

This page last updated 12/26/22 with additional text.

I also have several articles about pruning specific plants, such as:

  • Pruning Orchard Trees
  • Trimming Apple Trees: When and How to Prune Apple Trees
  • Why Aren’t My Lilacs Blooming?
  • Pruning Crape Myrtle

When to Prune Spring-Flowering Trees and Shrubs

Spring-flowering trees and shrubs bloom on last year’s growth. This means that the flowers you see in March, April, or May developed the previous year.

That’s why it’s very important to prune spring blooming plants at the right time of year. If you prune them at the wrong time of year, you will accidentally cut off the flowers. This won’t hurt your plant in the long run. It will recover. But for a year or two, you may have no or very few flowers.

Pruning Rule #1

Prune Spring-Flowering Plants Immediately AFTER They Finish Blooming

Prune the following plants in the spring soon after they finish blooming.

Common NameBotanical Name
Chinese RedbudCercis chinensis
Japanese quinceChaenomeles Japonica
Fringe treeChionathus virginicus
Spring-flowering deutziasDeutzia species
PearlbushExochorda racemose
ForsythiaForsythia species
KerriaKerria japonica
HoneysuckleLonicera species
Star magnoliaMagnolia stellate
Mockorange speciesPhiladelphus species
Pieris speciesPieris species
Azaleas and rhododendronsRhododendron species
Rambling rose speciesRosa species
Early white spirea speciesSpiraea species
Lilac speciesTamarix parviflora
Small-flowered tamarixTamarix species
Viburnum speciesViburnum species
Old-fashioned weigelaWeigela florida

Download and Print a List of Plants and When to Prune Each

a chart showing when to prune plants

Grab your copy of my free printable worksheet on when to prune plants.

You don’t need to do anything special or jump through hoops to grab your copy – just click the link.

It will download as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Save the file to your computer, open it, and print it. That’s it.

When Should You Prune? Worksheet Download

Pruning Rule #2

Rule #2: Prune plants that bloom during the summer or fall in late winter, before the leaves appear.

Common NameBotanical Name
Glossy abeliaAbelia x grandiflora
Butterfly BushBuddleia davidii or globose
Japanese beauty bushCallicarpa japonica
SummersweetClethra alnifolia
Shrub altheaHibiscus syriacus
Hills of SnowHydrangea arborescens
Peegee HydrangeaHydrangea paniculate
Saint John’s WortHypericum species
Crape myrtleLagerstroemia indica
Bush roseRosa species
Anthony Waterer SpireaSpiraea bumbalda
Mikado SpireaSpiraea japonica
SnowberrySymphoricarpos species
KashgarTamarix hispida
OdessaTamarix odessana
Chase treeVitex agnus-castus

Got Pruning Questions?

Every Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern time, I host a Facebook Live event on Home Garden Joy’s Facebook page. I welcome questions from all gardeners. You can submit them on the Facebook page or drop me a note. I’m happy to answer your pruning questions or other gardening questions!

Jeanne
Jeanne

Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.

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Filed Under: Gardening Basics, Tools & Equipment, Trees and Shrubs

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