Home Gardening

Summer Pruning
Garden Tips Newsletter - June 18, 2001

June is a good time to take care of some summer pruning. Plants that need to be pruned:

• Spring flowering trees and shrubs
• Oleander, Barberry, Sweetshrub, Redbud, Floweing quince, Fringe tree, Flowering dogwood, Cotoneaster, Hawthorn, Deutzia, Forsythia, Beautybush, Privet, Magnolia, Mock orange, Spirea (Thunberg and Vanhoutte), Lilac, Viburnum, Weigela, Wisteria -- after blooming ends
• Blackberry canes, after harvest. Pruning encourages side branching.
• Dead or damaged tree and shrub branches

Pruning Tips:

• Don't prune shrubs or trees that flower in late summer or fall. Pruning these now will remove the flower buds and thus your plant will not flower in late summer or fall.
• Cut right above the bud -- be sure not too cut into the bud. Try not to leave a long stub above the cut.
• Clean tools after pruning. If removing diseased parts of a plant -- clean your tools after each cut to keep the disease from spreading to other parts of the plant.

These archived newsletters were written by Dr. Lelia Scott Kelly. Kelly is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.