Did you know that spring blooming trees and shrubs will make their blooms the previous fall? Next springs’ bloomers make their buds on old wood, wood that grows this year. Through late summer and fall, they form the flower buds for next year. The blooms are tightly furled and protected by a hard bud case or shell.

To maximize next springs’ blooms do your pruning now. Once your shrubs and trees have finished blooming it is a good time to do any thinning, shaping or reduction in height. However, you need to get it done by mid-summer, to avoid taking any formed blooms. This is especially important for cold-climate gardeners, who have a smaller window of opportunity.

Hardy shrubs and trees that bloom on old wood include forsythia, lilacs, mockorange, purple sandcherry, ninebark, azaleas and rhododendrons, weigela, some spirea, some honeysuckles and most of our fruit trees and shrubs. When pruning fruit producing trees and shrubs be careful to not damage your current fruit!

Remembering when your plants bloom is one great reason for keeping a garden journal. If you have trouble remembering come fall here is a great chart from U of Colorado. The chart has plants we can’t grow on the Canadian Prairies but is helpful if you’re trying to push the boundaries or have a great microclimate. I grew a deutzia for many years, said to be hardy for Zone 4. I admittedly had a great microclimate, a sunny yard well protected on four sides by mature shelterbelt and the house.

As always, follow up pruning with some love and care. Water well in the drought of summer and add light balanced fertilizer or compost. While you’re out there, check the trunks of any of your trees and rub off any sprouts before they become branches!