Shrubs are grown for the beauty of their foliage, stem color or bloom, or for their screening effect as a hedge. Sometimes thee purposes are combined, as in a hedge of lilac or red osler dogwood. There are many different kinds of shrubs and many different ways to prune them but some general rules of thumb can be applied to shrubs.

1. Shrubs that bloom before June 20 should be pruned immediately after the bloom period.

2. Shrubs that bloom after June 20 and are grown for foliage or stem color should be pruned in the dormant season or just before growth appears in the spring.

There is a commonly held, but quite incorrect idea, that all shrubs should be pruned, and pruned hard, each spring. This may take the form of shearing the shrub into a neat ball or severly cutting back branches to keep the shrub within bounds. Both techniques result in a misshapen ugly specimen with few or no flowers.

It is probably preferable to leave the shrub alone if in doubt as to when to prune. Most shrubs have a naturally graceful growth habit and only require pruning every other year. Some shrubs only require a low maintenance pruning schedule; one that removes three to four of the old stems and allows three to four new ones to grow each year Shrubs should have corrective pruning done each year.

An understanding of the basic principles behind pruning and knowledge of the growth habit and the method of flowering of the plant concerned are important, particularly the age of the wood on which the flowers are borne.

1. Anytime the tree or shrub is not leafing out or dropping leafs.

2. Late winter to early spring is best.