Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Flowering Branches

It is time the buds on your flowering trees and shrubs have now opened and are in full bloom. A quick tip on flowering shrubs and trees. Shrubs and trees that flower in the spring time. You want to prune them after they bloom. So in the fall time don't prune your flowering spring shrub or you will be pruning all the spring blooms off of your bush. For example forsythia which has bright yellow flowers on the stems. This shrub blooms in the spring time so wait till it is done blooming and then prune. Shrubs and trees that bloom in the summer you want to prune in the late fall when the plant goes dormant. Here some flowering spring shrubs. Forsythia, Lilacs, Quince, Snowball bush or Viburnum, Rhododendron, Azalea, Redbuds, Crabapples, pear, cherry, apple, apricot, peach, nectarine, plums, Almond, can be ornamental and fruiting. Careful when pruning your fruit tree that you are not cutting fruit spurs or fruiting wood. Shrubs that flower in the summer are butterfly bush, Rose of Sharron, Spirea, Mockorange, Dogwood, Potentilla just to name a few. It is fun to take a few thinning cuts from these trees and placing them in a vase or container to enjoy. Before placing cut branches in water just smash the cut end with a hammer and then place in the water in your vase or container. Change out the water water when needed and re cut the stem and smash the cut end again for longer lasting branches. If you don't have flowering branches even take some branches that are about to leaf out are also fun to have indoors as well. Happy spring.

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