Pruning Ornamental Plants

Proper pruning of ornamentals is one way to help ensure your plants are as healthy and beautiful as they can be.

"The key point to pruning is the new growth stimulated by pruning will develop close to where the cut is made," says Dr. Dave Williams, Extension horticulturist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

Keep this point in mind when pruning a branch that extends outside the canopy of a bush. If you cut a branch so it's even with the rest of the bush, you will soon have to prune it again. Cutting the branch back lower, inside the bush will provide fuller growth from within the bush.

When tending flowers or fruit, your pruning schedule should depend on the kind of plant. A gardening encyclopedia is a good source for this information.

Williams suggests using this rule of thumb for caring for flowers and fruits: If a plant blooms before May, prune immediately after blooms fade. If a plant blooms in May or later, prune in late February or early March, before the start of new spring growth.

For almost all plants, fall and early winter are bad pruning times because the new growth pruning stimulates will be damaged by cold weather.

Plants grown for their green foliage, such as hollies and boxwoods, can be pruned from January through midsummer.

Some shrubs, such as hollies, azaleas and camellias, can be rejuvenated by severe renewal pruning. Severe renewal pruning is cutting the entire plant down four to six inches from the ground. Junipers and boxwoods should never be cut down to a stub. Transplant boxwoods to a new location instead of pruning severely.

Since crapemyrtle trees flower in summer, prune before new growth begins in the spring. Crapemyrtles will tolerate heavy pruning. For a shrub-like crapemyrtle, cut it to the ground so many new trunks can sprout. For a tree-like crapemyrtle, thin branches for a more open look.

Camellias only need pruning to maintain an attractive form. They may not need pruning every year. But, when you prune camellias, prune fall and winter bloomers in March and spring bloomers after flowers have faded.