A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Shrubs and Trees Shrub Pruning

Hello, all!

We need your advice on pruning our shrubs and bushes. We have Yellow Dogwood, Purple Sand cherry, rose of Sharon, Pussy willow and Dappled willow in our yard. They are all large and out of control. Some of the rose of Sharon have trunks up to 4" in diameter. We would like to hard prune all of them back to 12" or so. Can we do that now? Should we wait till spring? Will doing this now spur new growth, or just kill the bush?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks from Rochester, NY
Ted C

You meant 12' right?

Even up in Rochester, pruning now might promote new growth and this is something you do NOT want at the time of year, for a number of reasons.

I'll leave it to the experts here to give you more specific advise, but I'd wait until late winter to do any hard pruning. That said, I *think* (not sure) these bloom (those that bloom) at different times of year and on different growth. For example, your pussy willow will bloom early next spring on last year's (2008's) growth. So first, if you prune it now, you won't have any little pussy willow fuzzy things next spring. You should prune that as soon as it's finished flowering, or earlier in late winter, if you don't care about having the fuzzy things in the spring. (But not now!) The rose of sharon blooms on this year's (2009's) growth. So you can prune that early in the spring and still have flowers in late summer.

A rule of thumb I use when confronted with something I don't know anything about (like, even it's name) is to prune after the tree or flower has bloomed. Of course, if you're desperate, any time but late fall is good, after the plant is obviously dormant.

Hope this helps some. Welcome to the forum!

If you haven't already done so, go ahead and prune that rose of Sharon, but --- only back to the lowest limbs. In other words, leave a couple inches or so of branches, where it will have more latent buds, which it probably doesn't have lower down on its 4-inch trunk.

At this time in the season it's pretty well into dormancy, but still could set up some of its buds for the spring thaw... This way, you just mayfind
growth buds lower down the trunk, in which case you'll be free to cut back lower this time next year.

NO !!!


Look at any tree or shrub. Look for structure and strength. Cut away what does not look harmonic.

To control upward growth, cut a lead-branch at the end. That will cause a "fork" in the branch, spreading out instead of continuing to lengthen.

Too allow a large bush to grow into a small tree, do not clip the outer tips of branches. Prune away the smaller side branches and allow the main branch to elongate.

All plants (trees, shrubs, flowers, ground cover, vines) need space in which to thrive. Clean unneeded wood/growth from plants, training them to fit the space that you may have available. This allows you to shape plants to your specific needs. Plants need air-flow and moisture. Trim plants so that air may move freely through the vegetation.

NOTE : Often when you see pests and/or webs in plants, it is in very thick, crowded vegetation. Stop and look at professional landscape around the area. See the open structure of the beautiful, healthy plants. Also, notice the over-grown areas. See how much pestilence(webs, aphids)and fungus (black sooty mold)abound in such thickets.

Read about your plants!! Some plants BLOOM on "old wood"; some BLOOM on "new wood". Know the difference to maximize BLOOM time each year.

Let this be how you choose to prune your plants.

Cut all back to 12" is not the answer.

Bad pruning techniques will weaken a tree or shrub and could prove dangerous depending on size and location.

I would suggest consulting with a certified arborist. He/she can provide you with information and recommend a knowledgeable trimmer.