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How to prune spring-flowering plants
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Wednesday, 13 December 2023 at 1:00 pm
Spring-flowering shrubs should be pruned immediately after flowering. Alan Titchmarsh shows how to do it.
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Spring-flowering shrubs, such as deutzia, physocarpus, philadelphus, forsythia and weigela produce their blooms on the woody stems made in the previous year. Cut out these stems as soon as the flowers have faded (or by July at the latest) and leave the current season's new shoots to grow from the base. These are the stems that will carry the flowers next spring.
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You Will Need
- Established shrub
- Secateurs
- Long-handled loppers
Step 1
Pruning just above a stem
Use secateurs to cut out all the woody, flowered stems. Prune back to just above vigorous green stems growing from low down on the plant.
Step 2
Using long-handled loppers
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For the thickest woody stems, or where shrubs have become very overgrown, use long-handled loppers or a garden saw to cut through the tough stems.
Cutting back shrubs immediately after flowering spreads out the pruning so you don't have to do it all at once.
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