Prune Spring-Flowering Plants

Besides improving the health of plants by removing dead, diseased, or injured branches, pruning improves the quality of flowers, fruit, leaves or stems. To enhance flowering, prune spring-blooming plants--those that bloom before June 1 and produce flower buds on last year's growth--as soon as the flowers fade. Flower buds will form on shoots during late summer and then next spring, these one-year-old shoots will be adorned with flowers.

A partial list of spring-flowering plants includes the following shrubs and trees:

Prune After Flowering
(produce flowers on previous season's growth)

Alternate-leaf Butterfly-bush (Buddleia alternifolia)
Azalea (Rhododendron spp.)
Beautybush (Kolkwitzia amabilis)
Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)
Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford')
Bridalwreath Spirea (Spiraea prunifolia)
Clematis (Clematis spp.)
Climbing Roses
Crabapple (Malus spp.)
Deutzia (Deutzia spp.)
Dogwood (Cornus spp.)
Doublefile Viburnum (V. plicatum var. tomentosum)
Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata)
Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles spp.)
Forsythia (Forsythia spp.)
Indian Hawthorn (Raphiolepis umbellata)
Japanese Kerria (Kerria japonica)
Japanese Flowering Apricot (Prunus mume)
Japanese Pieris (Pieris japonica)
Lilac (Syringa spp.)
Mockorange (Philadelphus spp.)
Oakleaf Hydrangea (H. quercifolia)
Pearlbush (Exochorda racemosa)
Pyracantha (Pyracantha spp.)
Redbud (Cercis spp.)
Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana)
Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata)
Thunberg Spirea (Spiraea thunbergii)
Vanhoutte Spirea (S. x vanhouttei)
Weigela (Weigela florida)
Old Graybeard (Chionanthus virginicus)
Winter Daphne (Daphne odora)
Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima)
Wisteria (Wisteria spp.)
Witchhazel (Hamamelis spp.)