The Popular Plant To Avoid Pruning In Winter If You Want Big Spring Blooms

Winter often feels like the best time to do some pruning, especially when leaves are gone, and everything looks bare. It's also when many gardeners like to clean the yard up, cut things back, and get ahead before spring comes. Over time, many gardeners learn that knowing when not to prune can matter just as much to the overall health of certain plants. Pruning some plants and shrubs in winter can ruin spring blooms. For those plants, future flower buds were already in place before it was even time to get started with winter pruning. One popular plant that falls into this category is the lilac (Syringa vulgaris). What seems like harmless winter cleanup and shaping can affect how this plant blooms come spring.

Lilacs handle pruning differently because of when they start forming buds. Their flowers grow on branches that were formed during the previous year, not on any new growth. This older growth is often referred to as old wood. Once winter comes, that older growth is already established. It's very easy, especially for inexperienced gardeners, to overlook that this growth has already done most of the blooming prep work before the cold weather arrived. Pruning at the wrong time is one of the easier mistakes made when growing lilacs. This doesn't cause any obvious, immediate problems that you would see. The issues come to light later when the shrub fails to bloom the way you expect it to.

The good news is that lilacs can be pruned successfully, but timing is very important for that successful outcome. The best time to prune lilacs is right after the flowers fade. This precise timing is the best for giving the lilacs time to develop their buds for the next season. Pruning after blooming gives your lilacs plenty of time to recover and prepare for next year's flowers. Once the timing for pruning lilacs is understood, it's much easier to avoid accidentally cutting off next year's flowers. 

Realizing you have pruned your lilacs at the wrong time is a lot more common than you might think. The shrub often leafs out normally, which can leave you wondering and hoping that it didn't affect anything. It's usually not until bloom time that the effects become clear. Once the shrub starts blooming, or rather not blooming, you will see the results from the winter pruning. This is when hope turns into disappointment as you realize that you won't have as many, or possibly any, blooms this season. Don't despair. Missing flowers one season doesn't mean your lilac is damaged or dying. Lilacs can bounce back after a season or two, provided you make sure to prune them at the right time next time, so this fragrant plant stays healthy.