Spring Pruning Of Ornamental Shrubs And Perennial Flowers. What Shrubs, Vines And Perennials To Cut In The Spring? Photo

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Spring Pruning Of Ornamental Shrubs And Perennial Flowers. What Shrubs, Vines And Perennials To Cut In The Spring? Photo
Spring Pruning Of Ornamental Shrubs And Perennial Flowers. What Shrubs, Vines And Perennials To Cut In The Spring? Photo

Video: Spring Pruning Of Ornamental Shrubs And Perennial Flowers. What Shrubs, Vines And Perennials To Cut In The Spring? Photo

Video: Spring Pruning Of Ornamental Shrubs And Perennial Flowers. What Shrubs, Vines And Perennials To Cut In The Spring? Photo
Video: How to prune spring flowering shrubs | Grow at Home | Royal Horticultural Society 2024, March
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Gardeners, waking up from their "hibernation", missed gardening work, and hands seem to be drawn to tools. But it is important to approach the issue of pruning ornamental plants competently. It’s not for nothing that they say “measure seven times and cut once”. Our article will help you figure out how to make plants the right spring "hairstyles", which of the green pets will gladly respond to a new haircut, and for which garden dwellers it is better to postpone with pruning.

Spring pruning of ornamental shrubs and perennial flowers
Spring pruning of ornamental shrubs and perennial flowers

Content:

  • What decorative shrubs can not be cut in spring
  • What shrubs need to be cut in spring
  • Pruning decorative perennials
  • Spring pruning of perennial flowers
  • Spring pruning of vines

What decorative shrubs can not be cut in spring

First of all, let's find out for which ornamental shrubs spring pruning is contraindicated. Most shrubs that bloom in spring have flower buds last season, so by pruning in spring, you will achieve very little flowering, or the plant will not bud at all and will only bloom next year.

These shrubs include spireas blooming in spring. If you do not know the exact name of the shrub, it can be identified by the abundance of corymbose snow-white inflorescences with a honey smell, which bloom in early to mid-May. This, above all, species such as spirea Van Gutta, spirea gray, spirea ostrozazubrennaya (Argut), spirea crenate, Spiraea alpine, spirea nipponskoy and others.

Also on the shoots of last year, one of the earliest flowering shrubs of the middle strip blooms - forsythia, which is covered with charming golden bells in mid-April.

In spring, chubushnik ("garden jasmine"), action, weigela, colquitia, kerria, blood-red currants, large-leaved hydrangea and other plants that lay flower buds on last year's shoots are not cut off.

In such shrubs in the spring, it is better to carry out the so-called sanitary pruning, that is, remove frozen and broken branches, and in too thick bushes, old branches can be cut out at the base. The main pruning of such shrubs will be carried out immediately after the plants have completely faded.

Early flowering shrubs that form flowers on last year's shoots cannot be cut off in spring, for example, forsythia
Early flowering shrubs that form flowers on last year's shoots cannot be cut off in spring, for example, forsythia

What shrubs need to be cut in spring

Pruning will best affect those ornamental shrubs that are prized for their ornamental foliage. As you know, young branches have the most brightly colored leaves. And strong spring pruning stimulates the appearance of abundant growth, making the shrubs look brighter and more elegant.

In addition, in many plants, the bark of young shoots, which can have a raspberry, yellow, orange and light green color, is decorative. Thus, by pruning shrubs in the spring, you will get expressive colored crowns that will decorate the garden in the off-season.

Willow

This type of shrubs represented mainly decorative willows: Salix integra Hakura-Nishiki, Salix purpurea, willow Matsudana, goat willow and others. It is also useful to prune in the spring such decorative deciduous shrubs as sod, Thunberg and Ottawa barberry, bubblegum, elderberry, hazel (forms with purple or golden colored foliage), privet (form with golden leaf) and others.

All these shrubs tolerate pruning completely painlessly, so you can cut them quite hard, and some willows are even useful to cut "on a stump" to form whole "fountains" of young bright branches.

For shrubs blooming on the shoots of the current year, spring pruning is also very desirable. These plants bloom in the middle of summer, so thanks to pruning in April, the shrubs will have time to lay flower buds and bloom on time. Trimming will encourage the formation of new shoots and the formation of a large number of buds. Therefore, it is impossible to delay with their haircut.

Hydrangea

In April, the tree and panicle hydrangea are necessarily cut off. Treelike hydrangea lays flower buds on the growths of the current season. You can trim this type of hydrangea quite short, leaving branches 20 centimeters high. Old shoots (over 2 years of age) can be cut completely to ground level. Pruning like this will ensure a lush bloom and keep the shrubs compact.

To encourage re-blooming, the snow-white caps can be trimmed as soon as they have faded. Most varieties of panicle hydrangea also form flowers on the tops of the shoots of the current year, so spring pruning will also be useful for it. To stimulate flowering, paniculate hydrangeas are cut very shortly, leaving only 4-5 lower buds.

In April, be sure to cut the hydrangea tree and paniculate
In April, be sure to cut the hydrangea tree and paniculate

Spirea

Spireas blooming in summer, and this is primarily a low-growing Japanese spirea, as well as Boomald's, Douglas's, felt and willow spireas, a spring haircut is also recommended. All types of spirea tolerate a haircut very well, so you can remove all last year's growth, while giving the shrubs a spherical shape.

Most varieties of Japanese spirea are distinguished by bright yellow or reddish foliage, and intensive haircut will stimulate the growth of young shoots, which look as bright and decorative as possible.

rose flower

The peculiarities of pruning roses depend on which group a particular variety belongs to. But, in any case, flower growers noticed that the most favorable moment for spring pruning of roses is the time of forsythia flowering, since this shrub blooms when severe frosts are already behind.

In hybrid tea and flower beds of roses (polyanthus, floribunda) leave the frame of a well-developed young skeletal branches. In vigorous varieties, you need to leave 5-6 shoots, which are shortened to 5 buds. If roses grow slowly, they leave four skeletal branches with three buds. In this case, in the upper branch, you always need to leave the bud outward so that the bush has the correct shape. They retreat from the kidney by 0.5-1 centimeters and make an oblique cut with a sharp knife.

One-time flowering climbing roses cannot be cut in spring, since they lay buds on the shoots of last year. In remontant climbing roses, all old shoots are cut out, leaving 5-6 strong growths one or two years old, on which all lateral stems are cut off to 3-5 buds. After cutting the lash, it is advisable to immediately tie it to the support.

Repairing shrub roses (shrubs and park roses) are cut by 1/3, and old or weak shoots are cut out with a cavity at ground level. Such shrubs will bloom on young shoots of the current season. Once flowering shrub roses bloom on the shoots of last year, so they are pruned in the summer immediately after flowering.

Other shrubs

For a separate group of shrubs (common barberry, brilliant cotoneaster, viburnum and others), spring pruning is optional. But, in any case, it should not be too strong so as not to damage the flowering. In these shrubs, you can completely cut out old branches in the spring to thin out the bush and slightly tweak the shape. But it is better that spring pruning is reduced only to sanitary (removal of frozen, broken and diseased branches), and the main haircut is carried out after flowering.

Some shrubs, such as barberry, are pruned in the spring at will
Some shrubs, such as barberry, are pruned in the spring at will

Pruning decorative perennials

In spring, special attention is paid to cutting ornamental grasses. We remind you that all decorative cereals are divided into evergreen and deciduous. At the same time, very many herbs belong to the so-called cold growing (active growth occurs in the cool season in spring and autumn). Therefore, it is very important to clean them as early as possible so that the old foliage does not interfere with the growth of the young.

Deciduous grasses (miscanthus, andropogon, pennisetum, millet, pike, reed grass, lightning and others) are cut almost to ground level in spring, leaving only a small indent. You can step back a few centimeters "by eye", but it is better to look into the center of the bush and find the awakened growth points and step back from them a couple of centimeters.

Before pruning, it is highly desirable to tie the old leaves tightly into bunches. This technique will facilitate the cleaning process so that the trimmed tops do not scatter over the flower garden. After trimming, it is recommended to comb the bumps with a wide-toothed rake. Pruning is done with pruning shears or garden shears.

Evergreen grasses such as fescue, sedge, ochik, sesleria, rump and others are never cut completely, otherwise it will become very stressful for them. In evergreen cereals, you just need to remove the dead leaves at the base of the bush and manually comb out the bumps from the dead leaves.

Before pruning ornamental grasses, it is highly desirable to tie the old leaves tightly into bunches
Before pruning ornamental grasses, it is highly desirable to tie the old leaves tightly into bunches

Spring pruning of perennial flowers

If you have not cut the faded stems in the fall, you can trim them after the young shoots emerge from the ground. Until then, the old stems will serve as beacons so as not to accidentally weed out the plants or plant something in their place. Particularly relevant for this measure those plants that come later after the winter (eg, host, platikodon).

By its nature, lavender belongs to shrubs, but due to its external characteristics, it is perceived by many as a beautifully flowering perennial. It is important to prune this plant every year in the spring, cutting off the tops by one third of the length, while you can also give the plant a spherical shape.

Without a haircut, the lower part of the lavender will be exposed, and the bushes will have unattractive “bare legs”. Occasionally, a more radical haircut can be arranged for lavender, but it is important not to cut off the lignified parts of the stem, since the bushes will then branch poorly.

A close relative of lavender perovskite also needs to spring pruning. During the winter, the branches of this plant almost completely freeze over, so in the spring you need to prune when the plant grows. When pruning, they leave 6-8 centimeters from the ground, but if the stem is completely frozen, then it is cut off at soil level, and young shoots will appear from the root.

In evergreens (badan, chastets, geykhera and others), only old leaves that have died during the winter are removed. You cannot completely cut the bushes, this will weaken the plant or even lead to its death.

Don't throw away last year's berry leaves. The foliage of this plant, which has turned brown over the winter, can be used to make a delicious tonic drink called "Mongolian tea". To taste, the leaves of badan, which have undergone natural fermentation in winter, resemble refined varieties of black tea, while they do not contain tannins, but have a number of useful properties, and are indicated for certain diseases. However, the drink has a number of contraindications, so you need to consult your doctor before using it.

It is important to prune lavender in the spring to give the plant a spherical shape
It is important to prune lavender in the spring to give the plant a spherical shape

Spring pruning of vines

Some of the most popular beautifully flowering garden vines are clematis and princes. If princes blooming in May are usually not pruned, then large-flowered clematis are divided into two groups by the type of pruning - the second and the third.

The first group includes princes. They cannot be cut in spring due to early flowering on the shoots of the current year. Summer pruning should also be very gentle, because many varieties of princes can bloom again.

Clematis of the third group, which include varieties of clematis Zhakman and clematis purple, are subjected to the most intense spring pruning. If the shoots were not cut in the fall, then in the spring the stems are shortened to a height of 20-30 centimeters from ground level. For the convenience of removing last year's shoots, the stems can be cut in parts. In May, new shoots will grow very quickly in the lower part of the bush, on which buds will appear.

Clematis of the second group (these include most double varieties and simple ones with very large flowers) give two waves of flowering, with the first beginning in June. In this regard, in the spring of such clematis, only the shoots or parts of the stem that have died during the winter are cut off. And in the middle of summer, faded flowers are removed along with the first pair of leaves. The main pruning of clematis of the second group, when the vine is cut to half, is carried out in late autumn.

It is better not to cut decorative grapes and actinidia in spring. During this period, such vines experience a particularly strong sap flow, and the loss of a large amount of juice can greatly weaken the plants.

In the case of actinidia, in addition to the strong "crying" that depletes the vine, pruning will also attract cats to the site, for which the plant sap has an intoxicating effect, and animals can damage the plants by nibbling branches and digging in roots. It is better to transfer pruning of these plants to the middle of summer.

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