No, It’s Not Too Late to Prune
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- May
- 16
From our weekly Ask the Master Gardeners column:
Q: I knew I should have but didn’t prune in March or early April. Now it’s May. What should I do?
A: First, relax and give up the guilt. Gardening should bring you pleasure. Nature is strong and forgiving, especially of neglect.
Imitate nature’s pruning, accomplished through the action of wind, snow and ice, by cutting out dead or diseased branches of trees and shrubs. Otherwise, wait until July when the new leaves are strong enough to provide healing nutrients for large tree limbs that you remove.
Prune any shrubs that have already flowered this spring such as forsythia, flowering quince (Chaenomeles) and witch hazel (Hamamelis). Pull off dead flowers of rhododendron to promote strong flowering next year.
Cut back the remains of last year’s perennials such as lily turf (Lirope), globe thistle (Echinops), day lilies(Hemerocallis sp.) or coneflower (Echinacea). This task will take a little longer than if you’d done it earlier because you’ll need to watch that you aren’t cutting down new growth.
Cut your butterfly bush (Buddleia) down to 18 inches but leave the lavender (Lavandula) and other woody perennials until they have flowered. Next year, give your lavender a shorter hair cut in March.
It’s not too late to prune roses but definitely not so much as you would have done earlier in spring. Be gentle and restrained as the tender new growth may not yet be strong enough to provide the needed nutrients and healing after radical surgery.
Above all, do no rejuvenation (drastic) pruning this time of year. And leave your spring bulbs until their leaves are yellow and withered.
Linda A. Chisholm, South Nyack , master gardener, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland County
This entry was posted
on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 8:07 am by Bill Cary.
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Bill Cary grew up in Louisville, Ky. His gardening was limited to growing parsley and impatiens on the windowsill of Manhattan walkups until the mid-1990s when he bought a rundown old chicken farm on 8 acres in the Hudson Valley. Now he spends his weekends chasing deer, hacking away at invasive shrubs and vines and wondering why he doesn`t have more meadow and less lawn.
