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Show landscaping With Karla Hancock .. . Pruning Flowering Shrubs By Karla Rugh Hancock One of the most frequent garden questions concerns the proper time for pruning flowering shrubs. A general rule to follow is this: prune spring-flowering shrubs right after they floom, and summer-flowering shrubs in early spring before the leaves appear. Flowers of early-spring shrubs are produced on stems formed during the previous summer, so when these shrubs are pruned in early spring, as is often the practice, the end result is usually skimpy, if ILLUSTRATION A Removing a Lilac Sucker root T any, blossoms. Prune Lilacs Lightly Now is a good time to prune the lilacs, which are especially beautiful around Moab this year. They are well-suited to our climate they withstand dry weather (in fact, they resent heavy watering) and like well-drained, slightly alkaline alka-line soil. Lilacs do not need much pruning, but it is necessary to remove the old blossoms each year after flowering if the shrubs are to produce abundant abund-ant flowering stems over the summer. It's nice to know that picking bountiful bouquets of lilacs for the table takes care of most of the pruning chores. In Cache Valley, where we spent several years, many people prune lilacs to just a few sturdy stems, giving them the appearance of oriental trees, rather than full, bushy" shrubs. One disadvantage to this practice is that the blossoms very quickly grow out of reach and make picking and pruning more difficult. The numerous suckers which form at the base of lilacs can be left if a dense bush or hedge is desired, or removed with hand-pruners to keep the bush under control. These suckers can also be dug up and transplanted to other areas of the yard or given away to the less fortunate! If the root which connects the sucker to a mother plant is severed with a spade (see illustration A), the sucker can be removed easily. Sometimes Heavier Forsythia demands a heavier heav-ier pruning hand. Many of the large forsythia bushes around Moab would probably benefit from a severe pruning. This results in the light, airy fountain of blooms for which forsythia, or "Golden Bell," is famous. " When pruning forsythia, all vertical suckers should be cut back sharply or removed entirely. A mistake commonly made when pruning forsythia and other flowering shrubs is the practice of shearing them off in a rounded shape, (see illustration B). Rather than developing a nice, graceful shrub, this has the effect of coarsening the remaining stubs and gives the shrubs a stiff, unnatural look. A more successful approach is to selectively remove a third of the growth (particularly heavy stems which have produced little bloom) to about " from the ground, and "head back" the remaining branches lightly. Spiraea, which is just now blooming, and mockorange, which will bloom later this month, can also be handled in this manner. New growth will begin immediately after pruning prun-ing and it is upon these "enthusiastic" branches that next year's blooms will appear. ap-pear. Occasionally shrubs which have been neglected for years need more drastic measures taken. This is particularly true of forsythia and mockorange, which, if not pruned regularly,, soon look like a pile of dead branches with a smattering of blooms on top. A shock treatment is generally gener-ally in order, consisting of severe cutting of all branches to within four inches of the ground. Out of the "wreck" remaining, strong new growth will emerge, and although the gardener may not be rewarded with abundant bloom the following spring, the shrub will look like a new specimen by the second season. ILLUSTRATION B Selective pruning incorrect pruning method correct pruning cuts |