PRUNING 51 



season's growth ; and (2) those that flower from the wood of the previous 

 year. The first group is much the smaller. It comprises Ceanothus 

 azureus, its varieties and hybrids; Spircea japonica and its allies, S. 

 Lindleyana, Hydrangea paniculata. Genista tinctoria, etc. All these 

 shrubs blossom in the latter part of the season ; their flowering is, indeed, 

 the culmination of the season's growth. In the second group the flower- 

 buds are formed during the summer and autumn, and remain dormant 

 throughout the winter. To it belong the cherries, spring-flowering spiraeas, 

 wild roses, barberries, and, in fact, all the earlier flowering trees and shrubs, 

 which, of course, constitute the great majority. 



Briefly stated, the rule which indicates the time to prune all flowering 

 trees and shrubs is this : Prune at such a season as will allow of the 

 fullest possible period of growth before the next flowering season comes 

 round. 



The first group those whose flowers are borne on the growths of the 

 current year should be pruned during winter or early spring; at any 

 rate before growth recommences. The previous year's wood may, if 

 necessary, be cut back "hard," that is, to within a few buds of its base. 

 Such hard pruning, however, is only desirable where the shrub is already 

 as large as is required. Small specimens need only the ends of the 

 shoots removed. It must here be mentioned that a small proportion of 

 our second group have to be pruned in the same manner as that just 

 described. These are the very earliest flowering trees and shrubs, such as 

 Forsythias, peaches, almonds, Prunus triloba^ Erica carnea. Although 

 they blossom on the wood of the previous year, they do so before new 

 growth has started, and if they are cut back as soon as the flowers 

 are past, it is only the old flower-bearing wood that is removed. The 

 entire growing season still remains for the development of the new 

 wood. 



Thinning. I now turn to the remainder those that flower on the 

 previous season's growth but concurrently with, or later than, the develop- 

 ment of the new. These cannot be cut back in the way prescribed for 

 the previous group. To do so early would be to remove all the flowers ; 

 to do so later would be to rob the shoots of their best season of growth. 

 Therefore such pruning as is done must be deferred until after flowering, 

 and it must be a form of thinning rather than a process of shortening 

 back. 



The term " thinning," as used in the present connection, implies the 

 weeding out of all weakly, crowded, and superfluous shoots and the 

 removal also, if necessary, of a proportion of the stronger ones. Many 

 shrubs, such as the earlier flowering spiraeas, the shrubby loniceras, 

 philadelphuses, and deutzias, have a natural tendency to thicken into 

 a dense mass of twiggy growth. A judicious thinning-out, such as that 



