Prune to longer blooming garden

Pruning is the key to have longer blooming garden.  But

before picking your tools, have some handy tips given as under.

You can maintain the longevity of flowering shrubs with proper pruning techniques making space for new stems.

There are some deciduous shrubs that lose their leaves each winter and new stems grow at or near ground level. We need to be little careful while pruning or strict ourselves from pruning.

Say for example Forsythia sp. is one of many deciduous shrubs that look their best with their stems rising up in a clump from ground level to create an informal, graceful fountain of foliage and flowers.  For such shrubs, renewal pruning is the way to maintain this graceful appearance. Renewal pruning is the removal of old, overgrown stems or canes. This is usually done over a period of three to four years, and 1/3 of the stems are removed each time. It is best done during the dormant season. This results in a more vigorous shrub and, in the case of flowering ornamental, better flowering.

To achieve graceful form of such shrubs, loppers, hand-held pruning shears or small pruning saw are the best tools. And pruning time is decided by their blooming season. For early flowering shrubs, prune after spring is over or else you would be pruning off many stems that were going to bear flowers.

You have to be very enthusiastic for your late –winter pruning for shrubs that flower from summer on. The growth habits of deciduous shrubs decide the degree of renewal pruning required. Cornus sericea (red-osier dogwood), Perovskia atriplicifolia(Russian sage), Buddleja  sp (butterfly bush),  Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s wort), and other shrubs whose newest shoots are the ones that carry the best flowers or, in the case of red-osier dogwood, the brightest red or yellow stems can handle a lot of pruning. These shrubs also tend to send up many new shoots from ground level every year.

For shrubs whose newest shoots put on the best show are comfortable to prune easily. You have to lop the whole plant completely to ground level each year. This admittedly drastic pruning keeps them from becoming congested at their centers, and stimulates the season’s flushy new stems.

Shrubs like Physocarpus opulifolius (common ninebark), Prunus glandulosa (flowering almond), Rosa multiflora(rambling roses), and Kerria japonica(kerria) have their show on stem and are grown as shrubs for their catkins require slightly less severe pruning. Prune these shrubs by lopping to the ground all flowering stems, that is, those that are a year old, right after they finish their show.

Stems of Forsythia sp., Syringia sp.(lilac), Philadelphus coronarius (mock orange), Clethra anifolia (sweet pepper brush), Lonicera sp.(honeysuckle), Rosa sp.(shrub roses), and Weigela florida(Pink princess) keep bearing flowers even longer, so can remain a few years before needing to be cut away to make room for younger stems.

Next, with hand shears go for the young sprouts at ground level. Cut to the ground any that is spreading too far out from the base of the plant or that crowd too thickly. It’s impossible to prescribe how long to leave an older stem, or to say how many new stems to leave each year. Such details depend on the soil and the nature of the plant, as well as how high and how wide you want it to grow.

Finally, the easiest plants to prune are:-

Hemamelis sp.(witch hazel), Cotoneaster sp., Enkianthus campanlatus (redvein enkianthus), Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’ (PeeGee hydrangea), Rosa setigera (climbing roses), Paeonia sp. (tree peonies) and many Viburnum sp. All these shrubs are reluctant to send up new sprouts from ground level, and the relatively permanent framework of branches that they build up typically puts on a good show year after year. This growth habit means you need occasional pruning or sometime not all.