Getting Pumped About Pruning | The Peterborough & Space Grasp Gardeners

By Carol Anderson, Grasp Gardener

What else is there to do in February, aside from shovel … so why not start planning your spring gardening clean-up? In my final weblog, I shared with you my invasive floor cowl plight and promised to replace you within the early summer time with my progress on eradicating and controlling the various species on my property. However I didn’t share with you the entire story – that in my pleasure over my new house, I failed to take a look at the general state on my gardens … extra particularly my shrubs. It could seem that the earlier house owner planted someplace between 20-30 shrubs about 17 years in the past … after which forgot about them! So along with my “floor cowl grievances”, I even have some “bothersome bushes”! Let me share with you my plan-of-attack to deal with overgrown flowering shrubs in my backyard utilizing just a few examples that you’ll acknowledge.

Though pruning helps the expansion of wholesome and strong crops, it is among the most inconsistent and infrequently poorly executed backyard strategies. Pruning is just not solely important to sustaining plant well being, but additionally a vital apply used to enhance the standard of the plant (e.g. flowers or yield), “practice” crops (form and construction), and management their measurement. Maybe the explanation that pruning is averted by many gardeners is as a result of correct pruning takes cautious planning and execution; understanding your crops development patterns and life cycle will decide pruning time and approach for use. The overall rule of thumb, as you seemingly know, is that if the shrub blooms within the spring (e.g. widespread lilac, bridal wreath spirea, some ninebark), then most definitely the flowers bloom from buds fashioned on final years’ development. Subsequently, pruning after flowering permits new development to change into established in preparation for flowering the next yr. In distinction, most summer time blooming shrubs (e.g. hydrangea, hibiscus) will flower on “new development”, subsequently they require a late winter/early spring prune to stimulate new development for flowering in the identical yr. 

Normally, your backyard pruning is undertaken as follows

Step 1.

Create a pruning plan based mostly on every shrub’s wants and development habits.  Embody timing and any particular wants of the shrub and any notes you comprised of final yr’s observations.

Step 2,

Sanitation pruning (eradicating lifeless, dying and damaged branches) needs to be carried out on all shrubs within the spring and fall and as wanted all through the rising season, whatever the flowering time.

Step 3.

Pruning method. The method will depend on the target. Thinning (eradicating older branches to their level of origin) is used to enhance vigour by stimulating development all through the plant, in addition to air and light-weight penetration. That is most frequently finished when the shrub is overcrowded. Heading again (pruning again to a lateral department or node with an outward dealing with bud decrease on the stem) is used to enhance general vigour and bushiness (by diverting vitality to the brand new development) and to reinforce flowering.

Nonetheless, given that the majority of my flowering shrubs are overgrown and can seemingly not produce as they need to, I have to make the most of further (extra drastic) pruning strategies as follows:

Group 1. Very overgrown, dense mat of outdated development, minimal flowering and broken branches/potential for illness.

e.g. Widespread ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), Bridal wreath spirea (Spirea prunifoloia), and Widespread Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)

Reserved for less than probably the most uncared for and problematic shrubs … In depth Rejuvenation (or Renewal) Pruning!  This method requires pruning all the shrub right down to 6-10” from the bottom within the Spring after which pruning out ½ of the brand new development mid-summer and heading again the opposite ½ of the brand new development to encourage bushiness. Not all flowering Shrubs can tolerate this. If these shrubs present indicators of illness, they are going to be eliminated.

Group 2. Flowers evident, branches spindly/lack vigour/bushiness.

e.g. Panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata)

Gradual Rejuvenation (renewal) Pruning. This technique is meant to really rejuvenate a plant, whereas sustaining its’ general look, making it extra enticing through the renewal course of. The approach requires 3 years, eradicating 1/3 of the oldest development every year.

Group 3. Shrub has foliage however restricted flowering and stunted development.

e.g. Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)

Though a Rose of Sharon doesn’t normally want common pruning (until to handle form or measurement), it could seem that heading again could be helpful to stimulate vigour, new development and budding. It’s seemingly that this shrub might also want some particular fertilizer in Spring to stimulate development and bud formation or soil amendments to acidify the soil.

As all the time, keep tuned and in my subsequent weblog I’ll replace everybody on my invasive groundcover and overgrown shrub approaches (what labored, what didn’t and what subsequent)!!!