Heather to prune
I have had autumn heather (Calluna vulgaris) for five years and have noticed that they are bare at the base. How high should I prune them and at what time of year?
Answer
Upright varieties of heather, in particular, degenerate over time. In Europe, autumn pruning after flowering is recommended, but this is difficult in our climate, as heather flowers so late that snow often arrives before flowering is complete. Here, it is better to prune them early in the spring, when the snow melts.
Since your plants are bare, it is best to rejuvenate them completely. Cut them back to 10 cm above the ground. As heather grows back slowly and somewhat irregularly, flowering the following fall may be disappointing, but it will be abundant the second fall. Once your plants are back in good shape, get into the habit of removing the oldest branches every 2 or 3 years. This will keep your plants in good condition indefinitely.
Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ that blooms sparingly
We have a grove of Annabelle hydrangeas. It was already there when we bought the house five years ago. At first, it bloomed profusely. I got into the habit of cutting the stems back to 6 inches above the ground in the fall, as you suggested in a recent column. However, the flowering has decreased to almost nothing. Should I prune in the spring instead? I am sending you photos to confirm that this is the right type of hydrangea.
Answer
Your plants are indeed Annabelle hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’). I believe your problem stems from the plants being too crowded together. In my opinion, your “grove” was probably originally made up of several individual shrubs. This hydrangea produces a lot of suckers, and I think that over time, the different plants have grown together and are now competing for space. Since none of them have enough room to grow properly, flowering has decreased or disappeared. I suggest you dig them up in the spring and divide this large mass into several individual plants that you can replant. Give the surplus (you’ll have plenty!) to friends. Rejuvenated in this way, your hydrangeas should bloom profusely for a decade or more… until the population grows too large again and they need to be divided again, perhaps in 15 to 20 years.
Larry Hodgson has published thousands of articles and 65 books during his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text was originally published in the newspaper Le Soleil.
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