Let's prune.

What is an early flowering shrub? Early flowering shrubs are those that flower between November and June. The time to prune these depends when they finish flowering. When that time comes does the shrub need a simple snip (removing the odd wayward shoot)here and there (you can do this pretty much anytime), tidy up, thinning out or, a good old hack back.

The shrubs below, with some examples of varieties, are all early flowering and are pruned the same way. (These aren't photo's of my shrubs!)

FORSYTHIA intermedia (Golden Bell), has bright yellow flowers (Lynwood , Mini Gold), usually during February and March. Prune as the flowers start to fade in March/April. I wouldn’t want to prune any later than June as the amount of flower power for next year will be somewhat reduced.

RIBES sanguineum (Flowering Currant), is probably more commonly seen with pink flowers. There are varieties that flower in red (Pulborough Red) or white (Elkington's White). Ribes normally flower during April. Pruning is best carried out soon after flowering. The longer you leave it the less punch the flowers will give you next year.

VIBURNUM bodnantense. This has pink or white, scented flowers, which emerge from November to March on bare stems. Leave this shrub to get established before giving it a prune. By all means give it a snip here and there to keep it in check. Just prune out stems that are crossing over or looking unhealthy.

WEIGELA florida. There is a whole host of this shrub these days that vary in size, colour, and foliage. They generally flower from May to June. If you’re wanting to rejuvenate this shrub the time to do it is immediately after flowering as there’ll be little time for it to produce enough growth to flower on next year.

CHAENOMELES japonica (Flowering Quince) is available in a selection of colours, white (speciosa Nivalis), red (Scarlet Storm) and pink (Pink Lady). They generally flower between March and May. However, if it’s been a warm winter they may flower earlier. Chaenomeles does have a few spikes. The fruit it produces can be used in preserves and jellies but you’ll get better results from a variety that has been breed to produce fruit, like “Meechs Prolific” and “Vranja” (pronounced turning the j to a y, Vranya).

CAMELLIA. There are three main groups, japonica, williamsii and sasanqua (sas-ang-kwa). The latter flowers in autumn/winter and is less well known. Japonica has a huge range of flower colour, form, and size, and also has a shorter flowering period of 4-6 weeks, whereas williamsii flowers for around 12 weeks and has a limited range of flower colour. Camellia japonica and williamsii are best pruned after flowering in May/June. Camellia sasanqua (sas-ang-kwa) is best pruned after flowering in March/April.

How to prune these shrubs depends on what’s needed.

Just a tidy up to keep it in shape.

This is fairly straight forward, just take off the offending twig or twigs. I would suggest to remove anything dead or diseased before you start the tidy up.

A good old hack back.

This is a drastic action. I would suggest this is the way to go if your shrub needs taming/rejuvenating. A hack back for me is cutting back to the ground or within an inch or two of the ground. If you don’t feel that confident, leave no less than 3 main stems up to 1m (3ft) high. If you leave this too late you’ll end up sacrificing flower power. That’s not to say that you won’t get any flowers. Sometimes the shrub won’t flower for a couple of years.

Thinning out.

This isn’t quite so straight forward. With established shrubs try and make this part of regular maintenance. The aim is to open up the shrub to let the air flow through and light in. This helps to prevent disease getting in. It’s not a guarantee though. This is achieved by removing around a third of the oldest stems (if there’s enough younger stems I would consider taking out all of the older stems). Start by removing anything that looks dead, dying or diseased. When you’ve done that move on to removing any stems/branches that are crossing over or rubbing against anything. Rubbing removes the bark which opens the door for pests and diseases to attack. When cutting out the stems this should be to ground level or as low as possible. When removing the branches this should be to the main stem where possible. If you’re unable to cut flush with the stem, cut just above the nearest leaf node. This is where the leaves come out of the branch/stem.

There is a weeping variety Forsythia, suspensa, this requires slightly different pruning. To get the benefit from its weeping habit train 4 or 5 stems up a strong stake. Grow them to your desired height then cut out the tops. This will encourage new weeping growth.

Just a note of caution, if you carry out any pruning, on any shrub, too early or too late you’ll lose some, or all, of the flower power for the current or following year.