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Sun: 10am-6pm

When to Prune Flowering Shrubs

a pink purple and blue flowering Hydrangea bush
A pink Azalea bush in bloom

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.

rose bush icon

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

icon of a rose bush

  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