Identifying Pruning-Time
Shrubs are plants that come in various shapes and sizes. Each shrub has its own individual characteristics, for example, there are shrubs which have soft, flexible stems, and small leaves, and there are those which have woodier stems with divided branches. There are shrubs which spread by sending out straight, new branches from their base. The shoots or stems of the shrub grow outwards.
When the tips of these stems are removed, the lower buds which are found at the points or nodes where the leaves are attached to the stems and the branches are stimulated to grow. Depending on the particular species of the shrub, each node produces 1 to 3 buds. Gardeners understand their plants, their natural shapes and their individual rate of growth.
They would therefore decide on when and how to prune their plants. Pruning at different seasons elicits different responses from the plants. Thus, all of the plant’s energy gets concentrated in the remaining plant, and the dormant, or even the latent buds get activated to grow.
Since pruning results in the removal of the tips of the plants, care should be taken of the correct time and season to prune the plants, giving the plant time to form new tissues. Shrubs that flower early summer, before the midsummer, should be pruned after flowering i.e. in the early summer so that the new growth has enough time to mature and ripen, before they bloom the following year.
Typical examples of these flowering shrubs are Forsythia and Philadelphus. Shrubs that flower after the midsummer are pruned in winter or spring. They next blooms would be later on in the season after new growth takes place.
Floribunda roses are an example of shrubs that flower after midsummer. The best time for pruning evergreens are in the mid-spring. They can be smoothened and shaped.
This way the young shoots would grow only after the frost. Old shrubs which are a gardener’s old friends can be given a new lease of life by cutting them 30 to 45 cms from the ground. To be safe, cut down 50% of the plant in year 1, which would allow for plentiful growth. Cut the remaining branches in year 2. Again vigorous regrowth takes place. What one has to remember is that the pruning has to happen before the bud breaks. Also, flowering shrubs should be pruned or deheaded immediately after they flower. Otherwise these shrubs will channel their energy into the making of their seeds.
We need to preserve this energy and so will need to cut off the flower heads. It is wise to remember that your plants should be pruned whenever they are damaged due to either senseless vandalism or bad weather. Make sure you have a good, sharp pair of secateurs so that the pruning is neatly and precisely done. They should be disinfected after you prune the plants.