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Flowering Shrubs 
Light your Property up with beautiful Flowering Shrubs Gardening Newsletter  Flowering shrubs are easy to grow and will provide you with years of beautiful blooms.
There are hundreds of flowering shrubs in all sizes, varieties, and color of flowers. To choose flowering shrubs think about space requirements, height, color of flowers, and the hardiness temperature zones they can thrive in. Pruning Stimulates Growth… The main reason to prune flowering shrubs is to maintain a larger portion of the young and vigorous growth wood. Most flower buds are formed on the current or previous year’s growth. This makes it important to remove the 1/3 of the oldest wood annually to help keep your flowering shrubs vigorous and producing blooms.
There are several considerations to look at when pruning a flowering shrub including health and overall condition, the season a particular flowering shrub blooms, and what you are trying to accomplish in terms of height or shaping. Free Newsletter Please sign up and enjoy our Gardening Advisor Newsletter. In this you will read both fun and serious gardening information covering a wide range of topics.
We will gaurd your Email with great care and NEVER send spam or sell your information.  SPRING Flowering Shrubs: Pruning spring flowering shrubs is different than summer flowering ones. Spring flowering shrubs produce flower buds off of wood produced the previous season. As a result, you will prune these shrubs after they have flowered in the spring and before the next yea’s flower buds are set.
By pruning at the wrong time (winter or early spring) you remove many of the flower buds before they ever have a chance to bloom. A few examples of spring flowering shrubs are:
SUMMER Flowering Shrubs:
Opposite of spring shrubs, summer flowering shrubs will bloom off of new growth in the springtime. The best time to prune these shrubs is when they are dormant or in the early spring before buds start.
If pruning is done in late spring or early summer you will remove flower buds before they have a chance to bloom. A few examples of summer flowering shrubs are:
Shrub Pruning Techniques & Cuts Notes on How to Prune:
* You want to prune problem flowering shrubs because dead or injured branches attract insects, rotting and disease. They key here is to remove problem branches as soon as they are noticed.
* You’ll want to cut out damaged, dead, or diseased branches.
* Cut all the way back into the healthy wood or below the problem branches.
* Cut back about 1/3 of the overgrown stems (or branches that cross rub) to their base.
* Remove all withered flower clusters to the nearest bud (unless fruit is expected & wanted). Notes on What to Avoid:
* When pruning try to maintain the shrubs natural shape versus ragged edges.
* Do not cut too much off the flowering shrub at any given time or you’ll endanger the health and appearance of your plant.
* Stagger the cuts so your flowering shrubs shots are at various heights and look more natural.
* If you remove new shoots at the base of your flowering shrubs you’ll limit the size of your shrub. Specific Types of Pruning:
Shearing
Flowering shrubs were not meant for this technique. Usually shearing is done for formal hedges used for property lines or out in front of your home. Use hedging shears to remove newer growth shoots and leave about 1 inch of the previous growth to allow the stems to regrow.
Pinching
Pinching is the removal of shoot tips allowing for additional side branching thus increasing the plants bushiness. This is usually done on smaller shrubs in springtime.
Deadheading
Deadheading is basically removing flowers that have run their cycle. This is done by hand and can encourage a second flush of flowers for some types of flowering shrubs.
Thinning
Thinning is the easiest and most common way to refresh your shrubs. It preserves the overall shape and is done by removing interior branches with a pruning saw or loppers. You will cut selected branches all the way back to the point of origin and only thin about 1/3 of the larger branches at any given time.
Heading Back
This technique is used to reduce the overall height of your shrubs.
Rejuvenation
Rejuvenation removes new shoots that are leggy, overgrown or for plants that sucker readily from the shrubs base. This entails cutting back when the shrubs are dormant. Free Newsletter Please sign up and enjoy our Gardening Advisor Newsletter. In this you will read both fun and serious gardening information covering a wide range of topics.
We will gaurd your Email with great care and NEVER send spam or sell your information. Partial List of Flowering Shrubs The list below is only a partial listing of some of the more common flowering shrubs:
Early Flowering Shrubs:
Flowering shrubs that bloom in March, April, May and early June are considered “Early Flowering Shrubs”. Note: These generally should be pruned immediately after flowering and include:
Late Flowering Shrubs:
Flowering shrubs that generally bloom in late June, July, or August are considered “Late Flowering Shrubs”. Note: These should be pruned in late winter or early spring and include:
Reasons Flowering Shrubs don’t Bloom
There can be many different reasons why a particular flowering shrub is not blooming. Consider these possibilities:
Shade – The location is too shady for good bloom production.
Competition – There may be too many other competing plants affecting root growth and nutrition.
Pruning – If you prune at the wrong time of the year for the type of flowering shrub.
Fertilizer Ratio – The ratios could be off on your fertilizer mix. For example: Too much nitrogen produces excess vegetative growth versus flowers. Also, too little phosphorus may cause a lack of flower blooms.
Shrub Suckers - Too many suckers at the base of your flowering shrub will limit the blooms.
New Plant – It’s a new shrub and simply has not had the chance to settle in and recover from transplant shock.
Water – Your flowering shrub has not received enough water.
Flowering Shrubs that love SHADE
Most of your flowering shrubs love plenty of sun in order to be healthy and produce lots of flowers. There are some flowering shrubs that do well in various shade conditions. Some of these are:
How to Start Cuttings:
Cuttings are a good idea if you love a particular flowering shrub and want to start another in your yard or give it to someone. This is usually easy to do but Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Camellias are a little harder to start. To get a cutting going do the following: Planter Preparation:
* Get a pot with plenty of drainage holes.
* Clean the pot out very well with soap and hot water.
* Fill the pot with a mix of sphagnum and perlite (equal parts) and moisten the mix.
* Make holes for the cuttings by poking a pencil into your mix. Cutting Preparation:
* Remove a new tip from the end of a branch.
* Remove flower buds and keep 4-6 leaves.
* Make a 5-6 inch cutting from that tip with a sharp knife.
* Make a small fresh cut at the bottom of the stem.
* Moisten the bottom cut on your stem and dip in a rotting hormone. Planting the Cutting:
* Place the cuttings in the pencil holes in your pot.
* Put small stakes around the cutting to keep it stable.
* Cover them with a plastic bag.
* Put under fluorescent lights for 16 hours if possible or under direct sunlight.
* With the plastic bag in place watering will be minimal.
Be patient, rooting takes 6-8 weeks or longer. Make sure you harden off your plants before planting them outside. Flowering shrubs are easy to grow and make your property come alive with colorful blooms. |