FLOWERS WORLD

Pruning According to Season of Bloom
Trees and shrubs that flower before the end of June
should be pruned immediately after flowering. Flower
buds develop during the previous season’s growth, thus,
the flowers for the current year’s bloom developed last
year and overwintered in the bud. If pruned before spring
flowering, the flower buds will be removed, thus eliminating
flowering. Table 1 shows examples of plants which
should be pruned after flowering.
Other trees and shrubs, those which flower after the end
of June, should be pruned in winter or early spring
before new growth starts. These plants develop flower
buds during the spring of the flowering season. Examples
of plants of this type are shown in Table 2.
Certain plants may be lightly pruned both before and
after flowering. This often increases flower and fruit
production, and several may produce a second bloom
during the year. Table 3 shows examples of this plant
type.
In any of the foregoing cases, the timing of pruning is
based on common sense to maximize flowering of a
plant which was planted for its flowers. If your pruning is
timed such that flowering is sacrificed, it will not be
detrimental to the plant’s survival. It will simply mean a
loss of one season’s floral display