Want to know which ones you should never chop in the fall?
Grumpy’s got all the answers.
Many commonly butchered shrubs and trees bloom in spring.
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This means that they’ve already formed their flower buds.
Read on before doing any damage to your perennials this year.
We recommend cutting them back within a three-week period after they stop blooming in the spring.
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This will ensure they have plenty of time to make new growth for next year.
This fungus is carried by the wind and infects trees and shrubs through their wounds.
Pruning earlier in the fall or winter months could cause excess growth and extra suckering.
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Forsythia
The bright yellow forsythia shrub should be trimmed back in the spring after the blooms fade.
Pruning is necessary to control your fast-growing forsythia.
Forsythia, if unkept, can grow up to 10 feet tall and wide.
(Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford')The Grumpy Gardener feels quite passionately about Bradford pear trees. To be specific, he passionatelydespises them.“Its flowers smell like tuna, it explodes in the wind, and its thorny seedlings come up just about everywhere,” Grumpy says. Instead, choose well-behaved trees such as crabapple, Chinese fringe, or flowering cherry.Credit: PhotoviewPlus/Getty Images
Trimming back your forsythia yearly can help prevent its unruly spread.
Cutting back your lilacs is critical to managing them and keeping them from growing too high.
In fact, your lilac bush can grow up to 30 feet on its own.
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Loropetalum
Loropetalumalso known as Chinese fringe-flowershould be trimmed back in the spring after they finish blooming.
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Begin pruning your Oakleaf hydrangea in spring soon after it stops flowering.
Cut the lower branches off the trunk to form your star or saucer magnolia into a tree shape.
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Use gardening shears for clean cuts.
Cut off shoots that spring up, and remove any diseased or dead branches.
Trimming back your spirea will help it keep its shape and promote blooms each year.
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Viburnum
Viburnum should be pruned in late winter or early spring to promote growth.
Cut back about one-third of the plant annually for best results.
Mississippi State University Extension Service.Fruit and nut review - peaches, nectarines, and plums.
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Magnolia stellataThis magnolia species produces distinctive blooms with clusters of long petals. ‘Centennial' has white blossoms, ‘Jane Platt' blooms rosy pink, and ‘Water Lily' produces pink buds and fragrant white flowers.Credit: Anna Yu/Getty Images
Beginning in spring, this shrub bursts into blossom, filling up its branches with blooms of many hues. (They also attract butterflies.) Gardeners in the Deep South should tryLittle Bonnie Dwarf Spiraeafrom theSouthern LivingPlant Collection—it will add just enough color and lush, blue-green foliage that lasts. Plus, it can tolerate our Southern summer swelter.Credit: DEA/C.DELU/Getty Images
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