How to Prune Bushes Tips For Gardening
Friday, February 1st, 2008February is one of the best months to prune. Deciduous shrubs and other spring flowering shrubs should be pruned after they have finished blooming. If you would like an early spring decoration. You can cut a few branches and force them into bloom, by putting them in warm water.
The main reasons for pruning is to open up the shrub for good air circulation and sun exposure. This will also improve the shape of the plant. Remove broken, dead, decayed, or diseased branches. This should be the first step in pruning.
As a general rule, shrubs that flower before June 15, should be pruned after flowering. These shrubs bloom on old wood. If you wait too late in the summer, or until early spring you will remove important flowers. This will not be harmful to the shrub or tree.
Prune shrubs immediately after flowering like deutzia, forsythia, lilac, kerria, mockorange, redtwig, St. Johnswort, viburnum, weigela, and yellowtwig dogwood.
Shrubs that bloom on new wood can be pruned in early spring, February or March. They can be pruned with the rejuvenation method or “coppicing”, which is a complete cutting of all stems down four to 6 inch stubs above the ground.
Rejuvenation pruning can be done on many types of shrubs, including Abelia, Butterfly Bush, Honeysuckle, Hydrangea, Privet, Pussy Willow, Pyracantha, Snowberry, Slender Deutzia, and Spirea.
Rejuvenation method stimulates growth in certain varieties of shrubs. You should use the correct tool, either a pair of loppers or a pruning saw, depending on the size of the stem.
The appropriate time to prune your roses is when the forsythia is blooming. Cut the canes back to 1/4″ above an outward pointing bud and at a 45 degree angle. Remove all of the willowy canes smaller than a pencil and broken or dead canes. Dead canes are brown or grey in color and live canes are red or green.
When pruning roses use a pair of bypass loppers for the larger canes and a pair of hand held bypass pruners for smaller canes. Use gloves to keep your hands from getting pricked by thorns.
Prune the canes to 1/3″ to 1/2” of their height and leave 8-10 well spaced canes on most healthy roses. Remove all suckers that are growing below the graft.
Dispose of your rose clippings and do not compost them. Rose debris can harbor pests and diseases.
Next week we will talk about pruning trees.
