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Spring Pruning
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Roses thrive on extensive pruning, so cut the canes back to
live wood.
Coppicing, also called stumping, is a drastic form of
pruning that stimulates growth in certain shrubs.
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In early spring, it's a
good idea to assess your garden to see what Mother Nature has
done during the winter months and to administer first aid for
any damaged plants and shrubs. Master gardener Chris Dawson
demonstrates how to correctly prune perennials. Essential
pruning tools include hand shears, loppers and pruning shears.
There are many
different types of perennials, but some general tips apply to
cutting back and pruning all perennials. When trimming dead
branches and leaves from perennials, clean out the debris and
remove it from the garden because old leaves and dead branches
may contain diseases that can infect the new shoots.
Small shrubs are very
attractive to rabbits and deer, who like to munch on the
branches of landscape shrubs. Wherever snow accumulates through
the winter, damage from rodents can be severe. Rabbits walk on
top of the snow and feed on the tips of high branches, and voles
can burrow under the snow and girdle the bark off young trees.
To prune back any
animal damage, use hand shears on outward-facing buds of bushes,
such as azaleas, to encourage new outward growth. In early
spring, prune shrubs only to correct any animal damage.
Typically, azaleas and other spring flowering shrubs should be
pruned after they bloom; if you prune beforehand, you'll lose
some of the flowers for that season.
Here's how to prune
specific perennials:
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Vines should be
checked for winter damage and tied back to their trellises
when needed. To prune and remove broken branches on clematis,
prune it back to just above a live bud that is starting to
sprout. Do any other pruning on clematis after it blooms.
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Wisteria are strong
vines and need a sturdy support to grow on, like a
freestanding arbor. Even if they aren't damaged from winter
conditions, they do require annual maintenance. Early spring
is the best time to prune wisteria to reduce rampant growth.
After it blooms, it will need to be pruned back again.
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Ornamental grasses
not only add color and texture to a garden in the summer but
also add interest in the winter with their wispy, dry flower
spikes and thin, golden leaves. By springtime, though, they
can look worn down. Remove the old, dead foliage by shearing
it fairly close to the ground before new leaves start emerging
through the dead foliage. Prune early in the spring, because
if you have a warmer area around your home, like the south
side, the ground thaws and plants begin to grow earlier in the
season. Be careful not to cut new leaves as you clean out the
old ones.
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A lot of perennials
such as hardy geraniums, Missouri primrose, and artemesia,
look great in the garden late in the season, but before growth
starts again in the spring, the old dead foliage needs to be
cut back just above ground level to make room for new growth.
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Chrysanthemums also
need to be trimmed back in early spring . If you live in the
southern zones, where the soil doesn't freeze and thaw several
times during the winter, you can cut the foliage back on mums
after it dies in the fall. However, if you live where there is
constant freezing and thawing in late winter or where you get
a lot of snow cover, it's a good idea to leave the dead stems
on the plant. These stems help hold the snow around the plant
to insulate it. Mums lack hardiness in zones 4 and colder
because the constant freezing and thawing heaves the plants
out of the ground, exposing their roots to the air, drying
them out.
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Roses require special
care because of their thorns. Always wear thick, heavy gloves
when working on roses to protect your hands. All roses need to
be checked for winter damage, regardless of whether they're in
a snowy area or not. Use hand shears to cut their canes back
to the point where there is live wood and just above an
outward facing bud. Also remove all weak, broken, and willowy
stems. Nature's signal for the appropriate time to prune roses
in your area is when forsythia is in bloom.
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Hibiscus emerges very
late in the spring, so be patient. Cut it way back so that new
shoots will bush out, and apply a soluble plant food once the
hibiscus sprouts shoots.
Drastically cutting
back a shrub is called "coppicing." But before you do this, make
sure you know a shrub's growth habit. It works best with shrubs
that flower on new wood rather than old wood and grow from
spring buds, and with shrubs that are grown primarily for their
beautiful foliage. Coppicing is done for several reasons:
It stimulates rapid
growth of new shoots that produce larger, bolder foliage.
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The variegation in
the leaves become more intense.
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The plants produce
more flowers and fruits.
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It keeps the plant in
bounds.
Coppicing is done in
early spring, about a month before new growth emerges. Use
loppers or a pruning saw, depending on the size of the stem, and
cut the stems back to five inches above the ground.
This technique can be
done to many different types of shrubs, including:
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Smoke bush or smoke
tree (Cotinus coggygria), zones 4-8
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Abelia (Abelia
x grandiflora), zones 5-9
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Butterfly bush (Buddleia
davidi), zones 5-9
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Trumpet vine (Campsis
radicans), Zones 4-9
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Blue mist shrub (Caryopteris
x clondonensis), Zones 6-9
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Pee gee hydrangea (Hydrangea
paniculata 'Grandiflora'), Zones 3-8
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Firethorn (Pyracantha
coccinea), Zones 6-9
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Pussy willow (Salix
spp.), Zones 4-8
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Tamarix (Tamarix
ramosissima), Zones 2-8
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