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Pruning in April: What to Cut, What to Leave
Apr
April is the perfect time to give your garden a little spring haircut—but not everything should get the snip just yet! Here’s a quick guide to help you shape up your landscape with confidence and keep your plants thriving all season long.
✂️ Go Ahead and Prune These Now
🌹 Roses (except climbers):
Now’s the time to cut back hybrid teas, floribundas, and shrub roses. Look for outward-facing buds and make your cuts just above them. Remove dead, damaged, or weak stems.
🌿 Summer-Blooming Shrubs:
Think butterfly bush (Buddleia), beautyberry, and Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). These bloom on new growth, so pruning now encourages more flowers later.
🌱 Ornamental Grasses and Perennials:
Cut back ornamental grasses and last year’s perennials before new growth emerges. This gives your garden a clean start.
🪴 Shrubs for Shape:
Boxwoods, spirea, and barberry can be lightly shaped this month. Focus on shaping rather than heavy pruning unless you’re doing rejuvenation pruning on mature plants.
🚫 Wait Before You Prune These
🌸 Spring-Blooming Shrubs:
Lilacs, azaleas, forsythia, and rhododendrons bloom on old wood. Wait until after they flower to prune, or you risk cutting off this season’s blooms.
🌿 Hydrangeas (Bigleaf and Oakleaf):
Skip pruning these for now unless you’re removing dead wood. They often bloom on old wood, and pruning now could mean no flowers this year. (Hydrangea paniculata and arborescens types can be pruned in early spring since they bloom on new wood.)
🌲 Evergreens:
Avoid heavy pruning of evergreen trees and shrubs in early spring. Instead, wait until late spring or early summer when new growth appears.
🌼 Pro Tip: When in Doubt, Don’t Cut It Out!
If you’re not sure what kind of plant you have, take a picture and bring it to us—we’re happy to help you identify it and advise on pruning timing.
Need the right tools for the job? Come see our full selection of pruners, gloves, and plant-safe disinfectants. Or better yet—join us for a pruning workshop this month! Check the events calendar in our app or ask in-store.
📲 Download our app and get a $10 reward off a $50 purchase when you sign up with code WELCOME—plus a FREE 1-gallon perennial with your $50 purchase using promo code POLLINATOR25
