Tips from a Flower Farmer-Pruning Your Spring Garden

I’ve noticed daffodils starting to peek through the ground, and you know what that means—Spring is here! With the weather warming up, I’m starting to feel that familiar itch to get outside and dig in the dirt again. But before I start planting the thousands of seedlings and plugs I’ve been growing over the winter, there’s some landscaping maintenance to tackle first. And by maintenance, I mean A LOT of pruning, weeding, debris removal, and, of course, so much mulching. But today, let’s focus on pruning.

Did you know there’s a right and wrong way to prune? Sure, you can prune a plant to death if you’re not careful, but you’d be surprised at how much most plants, especially long-established ones, can handle. What I’m really talking about, though, is timing. When it comes to pruning, timing is everything. So before you grab those shears, make sure you know what you’re working with.

✂️ Why Prune?

For Shaping- Trim back unruly branches to maintain a neat form.
For Size Control- Cut back up to 1/3 of the plant if necessary.
For Rejuvenation- If overgrown, prune gradually over multiple seasons, rather than cutting back hard all at once.
For Thick, Bushier Growth- Prune lightly all over to encourage dense foliage.

What can you prune NOW?

✅ Deciduous Trees (oak, Hickory, Willow, Sycamore, etc.) – Prune before they break dormancy.

✅ Fruit Trees (apple, pear, peach, etc.) – Now is a great time for structural pruning before buds swell.

✅ Summer-Flowering Shrubs (crepe myrtle, potentilla, spirea, elderberry, etc.) – Prune now for better shape and blooms.

✅ Roses (except once-blooming varieties) – Late winter/early spring pruning promotes healthier growth.

✅ Ornamental Grasses (e.g., maiden grass, pampas grass) – Cut them back to a few inches before new growth starts.

✅ Broadleaf Evergreens (boxwood, holly, Cherry/Skip/Bay laurel, etc.) – HEAVY pruning now may cause stress; light shaping is fine. For heavier pruning, wait until later in spring or after flowering

What to wait on:

❌ Spring-flowering Evergreens and shrubs (Rhododendron, Azalea, Pieris, Camellia, Virginia Sweetspire, Spring Flowering Mountain Laurel etc.)- Wait until after flowering, or you’ll remove this year’s blooms.

❌Spring-Flowering Trees (Flowering dogwood, Redbud, Serviceberry, Magnolia, Ornamental Cherry, etc.)-These trees bloom on old wood, so pruning now will cut off flower buds. Wait until after flowering, or you’ll remove this year’s blooms.

❌ Heavy Sap-Producing Trees (Maple, birch, Walnut, Elm, Beech)-These trees “bleed” a lot of sap if pruned now, which won’t harm them but can be messy. Wait until later in the spring or early summer.

❌ Severely Overgrown Plants- Avoid hard pruning now—wait until late spring/summer when they recover better.

Pruning Tips

Start with dead, diseased, or damaged wood: Remove any parts that are unhealthy or broken to prevent the spread of disease and encourage healthy growth.
Identify the right place to cut:
- Cut above a healthy bud or leaf node, which is where the new growth will emerge.
- If you’re shaping the bush, make cuts at a branch junction or where two branches meet. This helps maintain the natural structure and shape of the bush.
Cut at a slight angle: This helps water runoff, preventing the possibility of rot.
Remove no more than one-third of the plant at once to avoid stressing the plant too much.
- If a Hard pruning is required for overgrown plant, you may need to remove up to two-thirds, but avoid if possible.
- Herbaceous Perennials such as Salvias, Coneflowers, Peonies, can be pruned all the way back to the ground.

A note on Hydrangeas:

Hydrangeas are a wildly popular shrub in this area which have their own set of rules dependent on what type of hydrangea they are. Please check out this great resource on hydrangea specific pruning: https://extension.umn.edu/trees-and-shrubs/pruning-hydrangeas