Spring is right around the corner! When you can't wait to get started in the spring garden, a good task to undertake is pruning. Most trees and shrubs benefit from annual pruning. It keeps them in shape, gets rid of dead and diseased wood and encourages new growth. But not all trees and shrubs should be pruned early, especially some of the flowering ones. Early spring bloomers set their flower buds the fall before. Pruning them early in the spring would mean losing some blossoms
Here is a list of trees and shrubs to leave alone this spring to full enjoy their spring blooms.
- Azalea (Rhododendron species)
- Beautybush (Kolkwitzia amabilis)
- Bridal Wreath Spirea (Spirea x vanhouttei)
- Flowering Crabapple (Malus species and cultivars)
- Forsythia (forsythia x intermedia)
- Hawthorn (Crataegus species and cultivars)
- Hydrangea, Bigleaf (Hydrangea macrophylla)
- Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
- Magnolia (Magnolia species and cultivars)
- Mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius)
- Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
- Rhododendron (Rhododendron species)
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora)
- Slender Deutzia (deutzia gracilis)
- Weigela (Weigela florida)
