Prune your shrubs to maintain the colour coming again

Some shrubs are planted primarily for his or her brilliant winter bark: vivid streaks of purple or yellow that defy grey climate and appear to spark in opposition to a background of snow.

“They’re actually eye-catching,” mentioned Julie Janoski, Plant Clinic supervisor at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. Amongst them are red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), blood-twig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and golden willow (Salix alba ‘Vitellina’). The doorway to the Arboretum is flanked by clumps of red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’) with a bark of flaming purple and orange.

To maintain that brilliant shade, these shrubs want common pruning. “The colour is brightest on younger stems with thinner bark,” Janoski mentioned. Because the stems age, the bark thickens and fades to grey or brown.

Late winter is a superb time to prune these shrubs to maintain the colour coming. Utilizing sharp hand pruners, take away the oldest, thickest, dullest stems all the way down to the bottom. You may take away as much as one-third of a plant’s stems annually. By subsequent winter, new, brilliant stems will sprout to interchange these you eliminated.

In case you haven’t been pruning recurrently and the shrub has turn out to be a badly overgrown tangle, you possibly can possible rescue it by rejuvenation pruning: Reduce the entire thing again inside a few inches of the bottom. “It is going to look drastic, however it’s going to give the shrub a recent begin,” Janoski mentioned. The shrub might take a few years to get again to its full top, however the brand new stems that develop in will likely be brightly coloured.

Then begin a routine of reducing out one-fourth to one-third of the oldest stems every winter. This routine, referred to as renewal pruning, will keep the vivid bark shade and hold the plant vigorous and wholesome.

Bark shade is just one cause it’s possible you’ll be pruning. On different shrubs, it’s possible you’ll be attempting to keep up a extra compact form, hold the sidewalk clear, or take away useless wooden. “Not each shrub must be pruned yearly,” she mentioned.

The way you prune at all times is determined by precisely what sort of plant you’ve gotten. “Some sorts of shrubs must be pruned at particular instances for various causes,” Janoski mentioned. “That’s why it’s so vital to study the species names of all of your shrubs, so what care they should hold them engaging.”

For assist with figuring out shrubs and recommendation on the right way to prune any tree or shrub, contact the Arboretum’s Plant Clinic (mortonarb.org/plant-clinic). “Pruning on the proper instances and for the fitting causes may give you a extra lovely yard, even in the course of winter,” she mentioned.

For tree and plant recommendation, contact the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum (630-719-2424, mortonarb.org/plant-clinic, or plantclinic@mortonarb.org). Beth Botts is a workers author on the Arboretum.