How to Determie When to Trim your Flowering Shrubs

So if you have flowering bushes in your landscaping you have probably at least once trimmed them back, watered them, babied them, etc. but you didn't get any blooms.

 

After that you quickly learn that there is a right time and a wrong time to cut back your flowering plants.

 

After going through this one time you may be scared to trim them back again so then the plant gets over grown and looks bad.

 

Has any of this ever happened to you?

 

Well today I am going to show you something that will help you  determine when you should trim your flowering bushes.

 

One of the most important thing to know about your plant is whether or not it grows on old wood or new wood.

 

Say what? Old wood? What does that mean?

 

Well, it means some flowering bushes like the Spirea grow off of old wood, or in other words, it grows new buds on last year's stems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is an example of my Spirea that is just now starting to bloom.

 

 

 

 

 

Because it grows new growth on old wood, you want to make sure you trim it/cut it back after it has died back in the fall or winter, BEFORE it begins blooming again for the new season.

 

You can see in my pictures that the branches have been trimmed back already. I usually trim mine between November and January, so come late February or early March when things start waking up I don't cut off the flower buds.

 

Also my Spirea doesn't have to spend its energy going all the way up a long stem to create new buds since the limbs have bee trimmed low.

 

 

I help it out by cutting it back so when it starts growing in the Spring, the plant can use its energy to create new flower buds.

 

If you find that your flowering shrubs just aren't flowering very much anymore, they may need to be trimmed to spark new growth.

 

 

 

 

So here it is now at the end of March,

 

 

and by June it will look like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year I had my Rose of Sharon trimmed along with my large Elm tree.

 

Remember when I mentioned above that if you're bushes are not producing a lot of flowers that it might need to be trimmed...welllll.........I know this from experience.

 

My Rose of Sharon bushes taught me this lesson.

 

Here they are WAY over grown-touching the power lines and in dire need of a trim:

 

 

 

So here they are trimmed down to about 5-6 feet.

 

 These were trimmed last  year but this winter I took them down another foot! Man they grow fast!

 

 

But as you can see, there are buds all over these things, but they are not blooming at the top of the bush on a new stem, no, they are blooming on the OLD wood from last year.

 

 

Here are a couple pictures of blooms on the large center branches:

 

 

And here is how they will look in full bloom later this Summer.

 

 

So in order to know the best time to trim or cut back your flowering bushes, you first need to know how it grows.

 

 

Here is your rule of thumb:

 

If it flowers in spring prune after flowering; if it flowers later in the year prune in February

 

 

 

So before you start trimming your flowers this Spring, remember that If it grows on OLD WOOD (last year's stems) then you need to trim your plant BEFORE it begins growing for the new season, and if its too late this year, no problem

 

Just trim it AFTER it blooms.

 

This will keep your plant healthy and ensure more flowers!

 
To see pictures of the rest of my yard click HERE

Happy Spring!

Jennifer

 

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Side Table Gets a Spring Update

Today I decided to give my side table a makeover.

 

You may remember it from last Summer when I painted it with chalk paint.

The new color really gave this table a different look and I love decorating it with the seasons.

 

So after making over my Spring mantel, I decided to refresh the rest of my front room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used a green heritage Ball jar and added some dried hydrangeas from my yard, a little bud vase with a peony, and then I grouped together a bunch of pictures I had in random frames to create a collage on the bottom shelf of the table.

 

 

 

Its little changes like this that freshen up your home for Spring.

 

It doesn't take a lot of money, and in fact you can use items you already have by just moving them to a new location and grouping like items together.

 

I love how my table looks now and I think it will stay this way for a while!

 

 

 

 

Jennifer

 

 

 

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Gray and Green Spring Mantel

 

 

The weather here in the Midwest has been BEAUTIFUL for about two weeks now and I have been enjoying the warmer temps and all the sunshine and couldn't wait to get my Spring mantel underway!

 

The trees have buds and early Spring flowers are starting to pop up so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we are done with the snow.

 

I enjoyed putting away all the winter decor and breaking out greenery and pieces with color.

 

I brightened up my mantel with pops of green, yellow, and gray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have been following along you will probably recognize my new gray lantern that I bought last week at the thrift store.

 

 

 I love it so much and think it looks great on the mantel. It holds a green Ball jar and a bunch of forsythia branches for texture and color.

 

 

I got this wooden letter "S" and tried out a new stain on it. Its the Rustoleum "Sunbleached" gray stain you can read about HERE, and I love how it turned out! It was my first time using that stain and I can't wait to use it again.

 

 

Here is the view from the kitchen looking into the front room.....

 

 

 

 

I added a green throw pillow on my white chair to tie it all together and I love how the gray, green, and yellow work together with the rest of the room.

 

Perfect colors for Spring!

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great week!

 

(I know many of you are celebrating Spring break)

 

 

 

 

Jennifer

 

 

 

 

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