Question
Should I prune shrubs after they’ve bloomed?
Answer
In some books, you’ll be told, for almost any shrub, to prune after flowering. The problem is that people take this as a rule, when it’s not. It’s simply an indication of the right season to do it. In other words, if you have to prune a shrub, the best time is after flowering. That way, you won’t remove the next season’s flowers, which is what happens if you prune before flowering.
Pruning for the Right Reason
But pruning will not increase flowering and is not compulsory for the vast majority of shrubs. The laidback gardener, at least, only prunes if there’s a good reason to do so. You can prune to rejuvenate an ageing shrub, to remove malformed or disruptive branches, etc. Many people also prune to control the height and width of a shrub… but, in my opinion, they’d be better off removing the shrub that’s obviously too big for its location and planting in its place a shrub of a height and width naturally better suited to the site.
Pruning for the Sake of Pruning
As for pruning for pruning’s sake, just because the shrub is there and it’s the right season to do it (and that’s what a lot of hardened gardeners still do!), I consider it a waste of time. It seems to me that it’s more interesting to enjoy your land than to work for no reason at all.
Spring or Summer?
Spring-flowering shrubs produce their flowers on the previous year’s wood. They should be pruned within two weeks of flowering to allow new branches and flower buds to form for the following year. Summer and autumn flowering shrubs, on the other hand, produce their flowers on the current year’s shoots. They can be pruned in late autumn or early spring, before the new leaves develop. Although this pruning takes place several months after flowering, it is still considered “after flowering” pruning.
Larry Hodgson a publié des milliers d’articles et 65 livres au cours de sa carrière, en français et en anglais. Son fils, Mathieu, s’est donné pour mission de rendre les écrits de son père accessibles au public. Ce texte a été publié à l’origine dans Le Soleil le 27 novembre 2015.
That first sentence says it all. Because I grew up with the last remnants of formerly vast orchards of the Santa Clara Valley, I learned to prune during winter dormancy, long before bloom. I wanted to apply that technique to everything, even lilac. Flowering cherries, were particularly awkward for me because they are ‘cherries’, which I know should be pruned while dormant. I know how to prune fruiting cherries (although they get much less pruning than other stone fruits, and sometimes none at all). It is still difficult to leave flowering cherries alone through winter, and then prune them after their spring bloom. I make a point of pruning them thoroughly though, so I will not be so bothered by it pruning them during the following winter.