Prune at the Wrong Time and You Cut Off the Flowers
The single rule that decides when to cut almost any shrub — and the legal one about hedges.
Most of the “it never flowers” complaints we hear are about a healthy shrub being pruned at exactly the wrong moment, year after year.
The Rule
If it flowers before midsummer, it flowered on wood made last year — prune it straight after flowering. If it flowers after midsummer, it flowered on this year’s growth — prune it in late winter. That one sentence covers the majority of garden shrubs.
What It Means in Practice
Forsythia, philadelphus, weigela and spring clematis get cut in early summer, right after they finish. Buddleja, late clematis, hardy fuchsia and lavatera get cut hard in February or March. Tidying everything in autumn, which is the instinct, removes next spring’s flowers entirely.
Hedges and the Law
Cutting a hedge between March and August risks disturbing nesting birds, which is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. It is not a guideline. We check hedges before cutting and will refuse the job if there is an active nest, whatever the date.
Wisteria Is Its Own Thing
Twice a year: long whippy growth back to about five leaves in July, then those same shoots back to two or three buds in January. Do only one of the two and you get a magnificent plant with almost no flowers.
