If something is getting in the way or smothering other plants, it gets pruned immediately. Likewise, damaged growth is removed when spotted. I do generally try to prune at the 'right' time to minimise loss of flower.
I have a crab apple which never really seems to have a 'right time' to prune, as it has flowers in Spring and then fruit developing and remaining on the tree until late in Winter.
January is probably your best window @KT53, before flower buds form, which fits as pip fruit like apples are done when dormant in the cool season. Stone fruit like peaches are done in the warm season after harvest to avoid diseases like silver leaf. There is always the odd one that is tricky, late-fruiting stone fruits like damsons, I guess you prune when you pick in autumn.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I've got my own gardening calendar and I have to prune all those in March (live in the south) but they look a bit of a mess so wonder if I can get away with giving any a prune; not too hard! Advice I see often says prune after flowering but they don't seem to flower and therefore they get a bit overgrown by the end of the summer.
If the Choisya isn't flowering, you need to look at why - conditions, site etc. If you're pruning it in spring though, you're probably pruning off all the flowering stems. The Hypericum has nice berries at this time of year, so you might want to leave it, but pruning in spring may result in no flowers, or fewer flowers. Just a choice as to what you like best - flowers or berries. The others could be pruned now if you want. I'd not hesitate to do any of those if they needed it - frosts are still about a month away here, and less likely if you're in the south. None of those are what you'd call 'flowering' shrubs as such, apart from those two, although they do all have small flowers. Euonymous alatus flowers, but it's mainly grown for it's beautiful autumn colour, so you'd lose that if you pruned now. That's one I would leave until it's foliage is gone, but it depends on how you feel about it.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I’ve actually got two Choisya so ran a little experiment and only pruned one in spring. This one wasn’t pruned and didn’t flower except for a small handful of flowers, I suspect it’s just a bit overcrowded? Gets sun pretty much all the day.
Posts
- Holly hedge
- Euonymus (spindle and japonicus)
- Mexican Orange Blossom
- Hypericum
- Portuguese Laurel
- Elaeagnus pungens
I've got my own gardening calendar and I have to prune all those in March (live in the south) but they look a bit of a mess so wonder if I can get away with giving any a prune; not too hard! Advice I see often says prune after flowering but they don't seem to flower and therefore they get a bit overgrown by the end of the summer.
The Hypericum has nice berries at this time of year, so you might want to leave it, but pruning in spring may result in no flowers, or fewer flowers. Just a choice as to what you like best - flowers or berries.
The others could be pruned now if you want. I'd not hesitate to do any of those if they needed it - frosts are still about a month away here, and less likely if you're in the south.
None of those are what you'd call 'flowering' shrubs as such, apart from those two, although they do all have small flowers.
Euonymous alatus flowers, but it's mainly grown for it's beautiful autumn colour, so you'd lose that if you pruned now. That's one I would leave until it's foliage is gone, but it depends on how you feel about it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...