Pruning Shrubs

It’s time to prune shrubs.

We pruned the Crepe Myrtle last weekend. First, I checked the University of Virginia pruning publications. The best time to prune crepe myrtle is January, February and March. Virginia is in hardiness Zone 7 but it’s close enough to my zone 6 to use with only slight adjustments. It’s a great resource.

Crepe myrtle blooms on new wood so cutting back the old wood shouldn’t hurt the blooms. Ours grows by about 1/3 each year. We cut a little more than 1/3 to keep it in bounds. We also cut crossover branches.

Here are the links to the University of Virginia Publications:

Guide to Pruning Deciduous Trees
Deciduous Trees Pruning Calendar
Guide to Pruning Evergreen Trees
Guide to Pruning Shrubs
Shrub Pruning Calendar

I will be away this coming weekend. Part of the weekend will be spent at the Philadelphia Flower Show. It’s always exciting. This year’s theme is “Springtime in Paris”. Ooh-la-la!

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The Valley Flower and Garden Show runs March 11-13. I’ll try to stop in before I leave. It’s fantastic to have a flower show back in the Lehigh Valley after a few years cancellation.

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Overgrown Shrubs

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I trimmed some shrubs yesterday. I have many of the problems common to old gardens. Paths are closing in, perennials become overcrowded, shrubs grow over perennials. I am constantly dividing and trimming. I know I didn’t put enough thought into mature size. Some evergreens grew larger than advertised.

These 20 year old red-blooming azaleas and (older than that) mountain laurel fill every inch of space our side garden.

They look better with some of the growth removed.

The back of the same garden was overgrown and caused mildew to grow on the house.

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A little pruning gave them some breathing room.

This fir was our Christmas tree 35 years ago. I left the little white plastic fence at what was once the edge of the garden. I remember how small the tree was when we planted it. It is now taller than the house.

Over the next six months I’ll try to make a plan for spring. Perennials will be divided or removed. I’ll try to decide if large trees or shrubs need to be removed or severely pruned. I’ll need to make some tough decisions. I’ll see what can be saved. It will be difficult to say goodbye to plants. They feel like old friends.

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A pruning guide is available at Virginia Cooperative Extension - when to prune and how to prune.

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Spring Pruning

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There are consequences to planting a large shrub in a small space. It means that every year it will have to be pruned or cut back. As the lilacs finished blooming, it was time for their yearly haircut.

The white lilacs were planted more than 50 years ago (before we lived here). About 15 years ago they were cut back to about 3 feet. They have continued to grow and bloom. They are trimmed each year. (I've posted before and after pictures.)

Inch by inch they have become too large for the space and too tall for me to reach the top branches. So this year I gave them a major pruning. I reduced the size by 1/3. I pulled/cut/dug the runners that popped up – some as far as 3 feet away from the main shrub.

I also did a major pruning on the huge, old, purple French lilac in the front yard – got rid of some old branches, cut out the tallest branches and the dead wood. That opened it up a lot and may lessen the powdery mildew this summer (maybe). This lilac doesn’t send out runners.
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We pruned and trimmed some other spring blooming shrubs and accumulated a large pile for the city’s compost center.

It will be interesting to see if there are more or less of the fragrant lilac blooms next year but at least now they are a more manageable size.

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Who ever plans for the size a shrub will be in 15 (or 50) years?


(Information on lilacs from Cornell University Extension.)

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