Prune Summer-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 summer-blooming plants--those that bloom after June 1 and produce flower buds on new or current season's growth--in late winter before new growth begins in the spring.

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

Prune Before Spring Growth Begins
(produce flowers on current season's growth)

Anthony Waterer Spirea (S. x bumalda 'Anthony Waterer')
Beautyberry (Callicarpa spp.)
Butterfly-bush (Buddleia davidii)
Camellia (Camellia spp.)
Chastetree (Vitex agnus-castus)
American Cranberrybush Viburnum (V. trilobum)
Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.)
Floribunda Rose
Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides)
Grandiflora Roses
Glossy Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora)
Goldenraintree (Koelreuteria spp.)
Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii)
Japanese Spirea (Spiraea japonica)
Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)
Nandina (Nandina domestica)
Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans)
Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus)