By seasonally pruning your flowering shrubs, you can remove old or damaged wood that is more susceptible to disease, control the size & shape of your plants, and increase branching (which boosts flowering capacity). However, timing your pruning, so as not to disrupt the upcoming season’s flower production, is key to promoting abundant blossoms.
When to Prune
Prune these spring-flowering shrubs soon after flowering:
Serviceberry
Spirea (thunbergii, vanhouteii)
Barberry
Rhododendron
Dogwood
Pieris
Deutzia
Mt. Laurel
Forsythia
Lilac
Honeysuckle
Fothergilla
Mockorange
Witch hazel
Viburnum
Daphne Weigela
Mahonia
Azalea
Sweetshrub
Cotoneaster
Leucothoe
Euonymus
Flowering Almond
Kerria
Aronia
Magnolia
Prune these summer-flowering shrubs during winter dormancy:
Abelia
Hydrangea
Spirea (japonica, bumalda)
Beauty Berry
St. John’s Wort
Rose of Sharon
Privet
Itea
Caryopteris
Flowering Times of Shrubs
Early Spring
Forsythia
Quince
Spicebush
Mahonia
Spirea
Mid Spring
Spirea
Viburnum
Sumac
Azalea
Pieris
Late Spring/Early Summer
Chokeberry
Butterfly Bush
Sweetshrub
Beautyberry
Dogwood
Smokebush
Kerria
Daphne
Deutzia
Hydrangea
Cotoneaster
Itea
Mt. Laurel
Spirea
Rhododendron
Tamarix
Mockorange
Weigela
Lilac
Potentilla
Most Viburnum
Mid/Late Summer
St. John’s Wort
Spirea
Summersweet
Potentilla
Rose of Sharon
Beautyberry
Caryopteris
Hydrangeas
Butterfly Bush