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Late winter is not too early to start pruning evergreens in the South. In fact, winter is an ideal time to prune many evergreen trees and shrubs. Since spring has yet to arrive, you can reshape evergreen shrubs without stimulating excessive growth or branching. At the same time, evergreens are about to break dormancy with a flush of spring growth that will cover any pruning cuts.
However, you will regret pruning certain evergreens this early in the year because they are getting ready to flower. We’ll explain which evergreens you can start pruning early and which should wait until spring or summer.
Evergreens To Prune In Late Winter
Late winter is a good time to prune most evergreens, especially summer and fall bloomers like abelias, gardenias, and sasanqua camellias. These should be pruned now before they develop flower buds. Wait to prune any evergreen shrubs that bloom in spring, which we will cover below.
When pruning evergreens in winter, start by removing dead, diseased, broken, and crossing branches. Cut wayward sprouts and overgrown branches that you no longer want all the way back to the trunk. Dense broadleaf evergreens like boxwood can be thinned out by removing a few stems back to the main stem. This lets in more light and promotes growth in the interior.
Be careful with conifers, which won’t produce new growth from dead areas. After removing dead and diseased branches, you can tip-prune conifers lightly in late winter or early spring. Prune each tip back to the nearest stem or branch, making sure you don’t cut beyond the greenery into the bare interior.
If you want to rejuvenate a holly or camellia, this is the best time of year to do it. Remove as much as 1/3 of its height, and new growth will appear in spring to fill out your shrub.
Prune Cold-Damaged Evergreens In Spring
Wait until mid or late spring to prune evergreen shrubs with significant cold damage. Once the shrub is actively growing, you can assess which stems will recover and which were killed by harsh winter weather.
Evergreens To Prune In Late Spring And Summer
With spring-blooming evergreens, wait to prune so you don’t cut off all the flowers before they get a chance to open. This category includes loropetalum, azaleas, rhododendrons, and spring-blooming camellias like ‘Kramer’s Supreme’ and ‘April Snow.’ You can prune these as soon as the flowers start to fade. Don’t wait until late summer or fall, or you’ll cut off next year’s flower buds. Cut overgrown stems back to a branch or stem rather than shearing the shrub, which thins out the interior.
If bright red berries are your holly bush’s best feature, wait to prune it so the tiny spring flowers have a chance to attract bees. Prune hollies conservatively afterward so you don’t shear off all the resulting berries.
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