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Philadelphus pruning
peteS
Posts: 966
I've just pruned back hard my philadelphus belle etoile after it had gone over, in order to bring a bit of shape to it. Sometimes I managed to cut back to a new shoot, sometimes not. Do you think there is enough growing time left this summer for it to produce enough new growth in order for it to flower well next year.
0
Posts
Just wondering about the same thing with mine. It's very sparse, had virtually no flowers and I'm thinking of chopping it back to about half of the height. I'll go with Peter and Chloe and go for it! For the chop tomorrow!
Yes Stacks of time,
July is the correct month to prune back philodelphus. See the rhs advice on jobs to do in July. It will rapidly make new growth and these shoots will flower next year. Aim to get a good shape always cutting just above a leaf node. If your plant has got straggly you may have to get the shape back over a couple of years.
As a rule of thumb as soon as a flowering shrub's flowers are over, that is the time to prune back if you need to.
Many shrubs are at that stage now and will enjoy a trim. They will then have the rest of the summer to make new growth which will support sturdy flowers next year.
I've only recently pruned mine (Manteau D'Hermine) as they were still flowering in early July. Everything is several weeks later here, so pruning after flowering is the standard, and best, advice.
There's a beautiful one I pass en route to the local shopping centre - single flowered, probably Belle Etoile, and it's glorious just now. Huge and laden with flowers.You couldn't prune it till well into August.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...