Pruning young Shrubs

Hello all

I hope you are well.

As many of you will know, I had my Garden planted in September 2019.

I now have a few small Shrubs that have grown somewhat congested with many stems.

The Shrubs in question are Philadelphus, Ribes and Weigela.

From what I have gathered, from reading, these Shrubs should be pruned after they have flowered.

The question is, how should I go about tidying them when the time comes, is it just a matter of removing some of the stems to open up the Shrubs?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

 

Hi Kevin, when the books say 'after flowering' they mean straight afterwards! If you prune spring-flowering shrubs like those mentioned, now, you'll be cutting off/out the stems that would bear flowers next year. Missing a year won't do any harm, especially to young shrubs. Just make a note on the calendar to cut out the stems that flower next year

 

I've not bothered pruning my Philadelphus or Weigela so would be interested to hear any advice on how this should be done. I think with most shrubs it can be a good idea to take out any dead, diseased or damaged branches just to tidy them up if required. I did prune my flowering currant (Ribes) last winter. I took it to be a similar situation to the black currant fruit which I read before is best pruned in winter to just leave three main stems to keep it from getting too congested and to get better fruit yield. I found the flowers the following spring were even better than the year before after I took out a couple of the branches to give a bit more space for what was left. I repeated this a few weeks back with just one of the older stems taken out to avoid it rubbing off a new stem that it was crossing with so hoping that will encourage good flowering again this spring. The cuttings from currants seem to take well when stuck in the ground for propagation and just tried this with a new one I planted last winter earlier today with about fifteen new buffalo currant (Ribes aureum) hopefully growing as new plants for 2021.
Happy gardening!

 

As noisette has mentioned pruning now for shrubs that flower spring into early summer will remove flowers , general rule most plants that flower in spring/very early summer is pruned after flowering , plants that flower Summer through to winter can be pruned autumn through to spring.

If you want to keep a more natural shape shrub just remove a third or less of the oldest branches to the ground. Quite a lot of my clients like them shaped round / cones etc but it does reduce the amount of flowers and lacks the elegance in my opinion, I prefer a more natural look .

The ribes and weigela can be shaped but the philadelphus doesn't take well to shaping at all so removing oldest branches would be the way to go with this particular plant . I do see quite a few Ribes hedges round here.

 

Hello all

Thanks for the replies.

Sorry, I should of mentioned in my original Post, I am just gathering information at the moment, ready for when I can do the Pruning after the Shrubs have flowered, I am not Pruning them now.

One other related question, can the aforementioned Shrubs be Hard Pruned, if need be, just for information sake?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

 

Yes they can be hard pruned which I would do in autumn / winter but you will lose the flowers for a year . I've noticed the title says young shrubs which probably will not need pruning a few years are so , other than removing dead / damaged or diseased material .

 

How they're pruned will depend on the aim! Pruning can be done to contain the overall size of plants, or as renewal pruning, to take out a certain percentage of older wood and encourage new growth. The first can be done with a hedgetrimmer or shears to create compact, symmetrical shapes (aka as puddings ). Ideal for the tidy-minded, at the price of some flowers.
Renewal pruning is as Perki says...up to a third of old, flowered stems cut right out, as well as any dead or diseased wood, leaving the new growth to flower all along it's length. Renewal pruning
results in larger shrubs.

 

If I may. Please don't take tis as some kind of boasting. I have often mentioned what the text books quote. Yes there is so much good advice there. Sadly some of us didn't know or understand or whatever else. In past past times. I held a high position in the running of some London Parks. To be 100% honest. So many aspects of the gardening calender, went out of the window. Books and scientific knowhow, took second place. In first place. You became boss. In your position, much depended upon what YOU wanted to see etc. So let's take a wander around your garden. Well you have some fine, well established beds and borders. Beds and borders are the least of ones worries. Hey! Some of those shrubs are lookin a bit of a mess. So straight away, your eye has caught sight, and at the same time, your powerful brain clicks into gear. Now pops up before you. what you would like your garden to look like. OK. You want a kind of mix match, hot spotch garden.. So leave it alone and now and then wase your wat through and cut out whatever. Then perhaps. You would like all your shrubs to be of similar height and spread. This is like, calling in the services of a manincuruist. mispselled. So the design plan has already chucked the gardening calender out of the window. This is it. Ask yourself. Can I have the perfect text book garden. NO. For each and every one of us gardeners, be us amateure, pro, Dr, Prof or what. We go for what we want. So some shrubs get a haircut out of season. Never mind. The natural cycle will return.

 

Hello all

Thanks for the replies, it is appreciated.

At the moment, my aim is to tidy up the Shrubs as they have a lot of stems with branches growing inwards, rubbing on other branches etc.

I will wait until the aforementioned Shrubs have flowered and then I will remove the branches that are growing inwards and any that are rubbing against others.

My query on Hard Pruning was just for future reference and not something I will be doing any time soon, it is just good to know

Thanks for your help.

Kevin