SUMMER PRUNING TIPS

There are different pruning strategies for different times of the year, but overall, the goals are the same—to keep the plants looking fresh and open, promote new growth and re-flowering, and to improve the overall health of the plant. And as a reminder, pruning to remove diseased, dead or damaged branches can be done at any time of year.

Deadheading

Deadheading is one of the easiest forms of pruning—as blooms fade, just cut off the flower stems below the spent blossoms and above the first set of full, healthy leaves. 

• Some flowers can simply be pinched, and you’ll know this by trying—they should fall off without any effort.
• Others need to be cut with secateurs. Follow the shape of the flower and its connection to the stem as your guide, cutting where stalk meets leaves. For shrubs with tiny flowers, you can use grass shears to snip off a bunch at a time, leaving buds behind. 
• Roses require more precision. Deadhead stems after blooms fade: Cut toward center of bush at a 45-degree angle, just below the first pair of leaves and directly above an outward-facing stem.

Shrubs

Prune shrubs right after they finish blooming, so they’ll have the longest possible growing period to form flower buds for next year. (Next year’s flowers usually set a few weeks after flowering.) 

These include shrubs that flower in spring such as forsythias, azaleas, and lilacs or late-season shrubs that flower on buds set during fall of the previous year, including hydrangeas and rhododendrons.

Perennials 

Many perennials such as daylilies and irises and all the spring bulbs are “determinate” plants, meaning that they bloom for a set period each season. Deadheading won’t prolong their flowering, but it will prevent the plants from depleting their stored energy to produce seeds that you do not want. This energy conservation greatly improves the plant’s chance of surviving the winter and also enhances the quality of the next year’s floral display. 

Snapping seed pods: 

Many determinate perennials such as daylilies and bearded and Siberian irises end their period of bloom by producing prominent seed pods. As soon as the petals fall, use your thumb and forefinger to snap each pod off the flower stem. Because the various flowers on a stem open sequentially, this deadheading may continue over a period of days or weeks. When you've removed all the flowers on a stem, use a bypass pruner to cut the stem near its base.

Pinching annuals: 

To deadhead most annuals, catch the stem between the edge of your thumbnail and the tip of your forefinger, and gently apply pressure until you've nipped off the spent flower. The goal is a clean separation- torn or ragged edges can encourage disease. 

Deadheading spring bulbs: 

When a flower's color fades and its petals droop, snip it off with a sharp pair of floral shears or bypass pruners. Cut 1 inch below the flower's base. Not all bulbs require deadheading, however: The smaller ones, such as crocus, scilla, and Narcissus bulbocodium, will reflower successfully even when left to their own devices.