Many shrubs grow rapidly, becoming overgrown and excessively twiggy with leafy top growth and bare bottom branches. This top-heavy bushiness eventually obscures the shrub’s structure, reduces flowering, and invites fungal disease.

As with trees, annual moderate pruning to maintain a good framework of well-spaced branches works better than severe pruning to rescue plants after years of neglect (see Restorative Pruning on page 284). Control the size and shape of shrubs with selective pruning up to one-third of the plant, heading or cutting back individual shoots with pruners. Larger woody branches should be cut back to a side branch using loppers and leaving no stub.

Prune the shrub to its natural growth habit and shape, from upright to rounded.

Each year, remove some top growth or entire branches to allow more light into the plant, resulting in dense, spreading growth at the bottom.

PRUNING SHRUBSBegin pruning a shrub when it is young and you’ll have a much healthier, better-looking plant as it matures. Established shrubs may need annual pruning to control their size and maintain their vigor.

PRUNE SUCKERS Remove suckers (vigorous upright growth from roots) to redirect the plant’s energy.

DEADHEAD FLOWERS Snipping off spent flowers of lilac and other bloomers as soon as they fade is another form of pruning.

HYDRANGEA PRUNING Repeat-blooming Hydrangea macrophylla varieties bloom on last year’s growth. Wait till they leaf out in early spring to prune out deadwood.

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LATE WINTER By spring, leaf buds, but not flower buds, have formed.

LATE WINTER Leaf and flower buds are ready to go.

EARLY SPRING Prune the shrub before it begins growing.

EARLY SPRING Blooms usually appear first, followed by leaves.

LATE SPRING Each cut results in at least two new branches.

LATE SPRING Prune these shrubs as soon as the flowers fade.

SUMMER The new branches produce a wealth of blooms.

SUMMER Next year’s flower buds develop on the new stems.

PRUNING SPRING-FLOWERING SHRUBSThe bloom time of flowering shrubs determines when to trim them.

Spring bloomers flower on branches that grew the previous year, so winter pruning removes limbs that would produce flowers. Prune spring bloomers

right after they finish flowering. Pruning encourages new growth on which more buds can grow for best flowering next year.

PRUNING SUMMER-FLOWERING SHRUBSFor best results, prune in late winter into early spring.

Pruning in fall or midwinter leaves open wounds that lose moisture. Pruning cuts made during these times commonly cause dieback, resulting in more pruning

in spring to remove stubs. Pruning cuts made just before or during active growth heal quickly and allow time for new growth for summer blooms.

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Give a shrub a new lease on life—instead of a death sentence—if it outgrows its space, looks unkempt and shabby, or produces few flowers or little fruit. When lilac branches reach more than 2 inches in diameter, for instance, remove them and allow suckers to develop into new branches.

Renewal pruningThis method of pruning removes some older stems to promote new growth. Plan to accomplish the process over three years, pruning out one-third of the old stems each year. Eventually, you end up with an almost entirely new plant.

Renewal pruning encourages new growth on an otherwise leggy, bare-bottom shrub. Some plants, such as lilac, honeysuckle, and spirea, respond well to this method of pruning. New growth fills in at their base, and more profuse flowering occurs.

RESTORATIVE PRUNINGWhen faced with a neglected or overgrown shrub, you may wonder whether the only solution will be to dig it up and replace it.

BEFORE Each year, over three years, remove one-third of a neglected lilac’s old stems, cutting at ground level.

PRUNING Removing one-third of the old shrub’s stems begins the renewal process.

AFTER One-third of the old stems have been removed, and the old shrub looks better already.

AFTER RESTORATION Several years of restorative pruning prompt a lilac to bloom as much as—or more than—ever.

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Another way to renovate some overgrown shrubs entails cutting all the stems to within 1 or 2 inches of the ground. It may take a few months for the entire shrub to produce new growth, and a year or more to regain an attractive shape.

This severe pruning method works well for some shrubs, such as Cornus (red-osier and yellow-twig

REJUVENATIVE PRUNINGThis method of cutting back all the stems of a shrubs works best on some fast growers.

PRUNING NEEDED Some shrubs, such as butterfly bush, become overgrown unless pruned severely.

MAKE CLEAN CUTS Use loppers or a pruning saw to accomplish rejuvenative pruning.

PRUNING COMPLETE Cut all the stems to within 1 to 2 inches of ground level. They’ll resume growing within a few weeks.

dogwood), with multiple shoots. But it can kill some shrubs. When in doubt, use renewal pruning to determine whether the shrub produces new stems.

In warm-climate regions, less severe cutting back to 6 to 12 inches works well for these shrubs: abelia, azalea, burford holly, camellia, crape myrtle, heavenly bamboo, and privet.

Butterfly bush (Buddleia) CaryopterisCinquefoil (Potentilla) Dogwood (Cornus) ForsythiaHibiscusHoneysuckle (Lonicera) Hydrangea, ‘Annabelle’Lilac (Syringa) Privet (Ligustrum) St. johnswort (Hypericum) Sumac (Rhus)

REJUVENATE THESE SHRUBSShrubs that benefit from rejuvenation:

Hibiscus Forsythia Butterfly bush

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