I kind of let some of my shrubs get overgrown this year. Is now a good time to prune these shrubs? SH

With the heat we experienced last summer, it was easy for a lot of us to let our landscape get a little ahead of itself but now is not the best time to prune. Before we get into why that is, let’s talk about why we would prune our plants in the first place.

One of the reasons we prune our plants is to stay on top of the shape of the plant. As a rule it’s best to remove less that 1/3 of a particular plant at one pruning. We do this so the tree won’t go into shock and so it will have adequate resources available to take care of and nourish itself. If we miss pruning over a several year period, it’s easy for plants to become misshapen or grow into some areas that could cause a problem like rubbing up against the house or the roof. Just accept that to get that plant back to where it should be might require several seasons of removing only up to 1/3 of the plant at a time.

Pruning can also be used to train your plant. If you are wanting your plant to grow in more of a vertical direction rather than a horizontal direction, keep those horizontal branches pruned so that the plant puts more energy into growing vertically rather than horizontally and vice-versa.

Pruning can also help keep your plants healthy. We keep them healthy by removing overcrowded branches or perhaps branches that are rubbing up against one another. Branched that rub each other will rub off the outer layer of the bark, making the plant more susceptible to disease. It’s also a good idea to prune out any dead or dying branches for pretty obvious reasons.

Pruning can actually be done at any time of the year without killing your plants, but there are some times that are better. Try to remember to prune at the best time for the plant, not the best time for the pruner.

In general, a good time to prune most plants is in the late winter or early spring before new growth begins. Pruning in the spring right after new growth has begun is discouraged. Late summer is also not a great time because pruning at this time can encourage new growth and this new growth is more susceptible to being damaged in a cold winter.

The best advice on pruning is to know your plant and its needs. For example - hydrangeas. The big leaf hydrangeas most of us are familiar with look pretty scraggly over the winter with their bare brown branches. Many a gardener has cut those stalks down to the ground in the winter to create a tidier garden. But then are also baffled when they don’t get any flowers the following spring. The reason for this is that the flower buds for next year’s flowers are already set on those stalks. Removing the stalks make your garden look a little neater, but it also means no flowers next year.

We have an extensive listing of when to prune a large variety of plants on our website under the Hot Topics section. Just look for where it says, “Pruning Calendar.” Good luck.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: OSU Dept. of Agriculture