I have several viburnums which were planted last summer. They're about 2 to
3 feet tall and blooming nicely this spring. The fragrance is wonderful. I'm
not sure when or how much to prune them for maximum growth and flowering
next year. And will they branch out at the points where they are pruned?
They are in a somewhat shady area near the house and I don't want them to
become too spindly. Advice would be much appreciated!

I'm in Zone 6 if that matters.

In article , "Chloe"
wrote:

I have several viburnums which were planted last summer. They're about 2 to
3 feet tall and blooming nicely this spring. The fragrance is wonderful. I'm
not sure when or how much to prune them for maximum growth and flowering
next year. And will they branch out at the points where they are pruned?
They are in a somewhat shady area near the house and I don't want them to
become too spindly. Advice would be much appreciated!

I'm in Zone 6 if that matters.

You don't say what kind of viburnum, & when to prune depends on when they
bloom (most bloom in spring, but a few do so later, & some bloom in
winter). Viburnums really don't REQUIRE pruning (not to bloom well) &
yours may be so young it isn't yet necessary. Some viburnums take at
least a full year growing mainly roots & won't produce lots of new limbs
for a year or two, at which time the kinds that get rangy if unpruned will
have their training started. Some viburnums do require annual pruning or
they get tall & rangy without nice branchings.

The time to prune them is very shortly after they are finished blooming.
This keeps them from wasting energy creating new buds that will only be
pruned away, & permits them time to set buds on the remaining branches
(which they start doing right away; next year's flowers are from this
year's buds). If you wait until much later to prune them, you'll be
pruning away many of the buds they expended energy creating, & end up with
a bush with fewer flowers than otherwise. And yes, they'll "fork" at the
pruning points if you get the right spot. Since they don't really require
the pruning to bloom well, the main purpose will be to shape them &
control direction of these forks, so you have to prune for aesthetic
value.

Unless your species are types that get rangy if not correctly trained
through pruning, I wouldn't be in any hurry to prune at all, or do so
extremely minimally & mainly to get branchings on new young branches that
on some species will shoot straight up without a single branching if not
nipped along the limb. Many viburnums shape themselves very well without
that assistance.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

The ideal time to prune is just after they finish flowering. That way you
won't affect next year's bloom.

They will branch at the spots where they've been trimmed. *How* they branch
out depends a lot on the variety. I've got some viburnums that fill out
attractively, and another, a 'Burkwoodi" that sends off branches at awkward
angles. So you might want to prune just a few branches experimentally
before you go whole hog.

Another consideration is the ultimate size of the variety you have. If it's
destined to become a 10 ft. specimen, and you want it to stay at 4, you'd be
better off replacing it with a variety that stays smaller. If its mature
size is about what you had in mind, it shouldn't need any more than a light
shaping from time to time, if that. Another benefit of *not* pruning is
that many viburnums develop berries that songbirds love.

Cheers,
Sue



"Chloe" wrote in message
...
I have several viburnums which were planted last summer. They're about 2
to
3 feet tall and blooming nicely this spring. The fragrance is wonderful.
I'm
not sure when or how much to prune them for maximum growth and flowering
next year. And will they branch out at the points where they are pruned?
They are in a somewhat shady area near the house and I don't want them to
become too spindly. Advice would be much appreciated!

I'm in Zone 6 if that matters.

"paghat" wrote in message
news

You don't say what kind of viburnum, & when to prune depends on when they
bloom (most bloom in spring, but a few do so later, & some bloom in
winter). Viburnums really don't REQUIRE pruning (not to bloom well) &
yours may be so young it isn't yet necessary. Some viburnums take at
least a full year growing mainly roots & won't produce lots of new limbs
for a year or two, at which time the kinds that get rangy if unpruned will
have their training started. Some viburnums do require annual pruning or
they get tall & rangy without nice branchings.

I'm not sure what type they are, although they are deciduous and just now
blossomed out in roundish white blooms (about the size of a ping pong ball
to a tennis ball) at the end of most of the branches. For all I know, this
could describe any viburnum, though g.

The time to prune them is very shortly after they are finished blooming.
This keeps them from wasting energy creating new buds that will only be
pruned away, & permits them time to set buds on the remaining branches
(which they start doing right away; next year's flowers are from this
year's buds). If you wait until much later to prune them, you'll be
pruning away many of the buds they expended energy creating, & end up with
a bush with fewer flowers than otherwise. And yes, they'll "fork" at the
pruning points if you get the right spot. Since they don't really require
the pruning to bloom well, the main purpose will be to shape them &
control direction of these forks, so you have to prune for aesthetic
value.

Unless your species are types that get rangy if not correctly trained
through pruning, I wouldn't be in any hurry to prune at all, or do so
extremely minimally & mainly to get branchings on new young branches that
on some species will shoot straight up without a single branching if not
nipped along the limb. Many viburnums shape themselves very well without
that assistance.

From what you say, it sounds like right after they finish blooming--at least
for this year--I should prune only a little bit from the top of the three or
four tallest vertical shoots. This will indeed be minimal and should be
sufficient to maintain an attractive shape. Thanks for the wealth of
information!

SugarChile wrote:

Another benefit of *not* pruning is
that many viburnums develop berries that songbirds love.
They sure do! They smack on them.
Cheers,
Sue

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