Spring Flowering Shrubs

• Lilacs should be pruned after flowering.Purple Lilacs against a bright blue sky image by Richard McGuirk from Fotolia.com
  
  Forsythia, lilacs, bridal wreath, azalea and viburnums are some of the best known spring flowering shrubs. They should be pruned only after they bloom in the spring. If pruning is done earlier, buds that formed during the previous fall will be victims of the pruning. Flowering, then, will be significantly reduced.
  
  

Summer Flowering Shrubs

• Hydrangea, unlike other summer-flowering shrubs, should be pruned right after flowering.Garden image by TC from Fotolia.com
  
  Summer flowering shrubs such as roses, Rose of Sharon, goldflame spirea, butterfly bush, crepe myrtle and summer sweet should be pruned before new growth begins in early spring. These shrubs form buds in the spring, and pruning at that time will greatly reduce flowering. Late February or early March are the best pruning times. Hydrangeas, a summer flowering shrub, is an exception and should be pruned right after flowering, according to Erv Evans, horticulturist at North Carolina State University.
  
  

Narrow Leaf Evergreens

• Narrow Leaf spruce can be pruned twice a year.spruce image by Tatuana Badokina from Fotolia.com
  
  Narrow Leaf evergreens, or conifers, are plants with needles, such as juniper, pine, spruce and yew. Pruning time is more flexible because most conifers are not flowering. They can be pruned in winter for holiday trimmings or before new growth begins in early spring. A second, lighter pruning can be performed in late June or early July.
  
  

Formal Shaped Shrubs

• Formal hedges need to be pruned every six to eight weeks.formal garden image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
  
  The timing for pruning shrubs that have been shaped into formal hedges is more frequent than other shrubs. It should be done every six to eight weeks over the spring, summer and fall. Pruning is done to maintain the formal shaping of shrubs such as as golden privet, silverberry eleagnus and massed dwarf yaupon holly. Power hedge clippers, rather than hand-hedge shears, are recommended for trimming the tops of these shrubs flat.