Characteristic of its beautiful pink blooms, similar to cherry blossom, weigela is a popular flowering shrub, often used as a hedging plant. But to make sure those pretty flowers keep coming back every spring, it’s crucial to know when to prune weigela.
Because if you learn this key piece of information and care, you will be able to push your weigela to its full potential – and you will have the best hedging plant on your hands, too.
If you’ve dabbled in gardening even a little bit, you’ll know that most plants need and benefit from regular pruning. But the how and the when is the part that differs from plant to plant, hence why we’ve asked our gardening experts to share the best time to prune weigela specifically.
When to prune weigela
Similarly to knowing when to prune hydrangeas, the reason why it’s so important to get the timing of pruning your weigela right is because it directly affects the plant’s flowering for next year, either positively or negatively – depending on whether you nail it or miss the window.
‘You should prune weigela straight after it's finished flowering,’ says John Clifford, gardening expert at Gardenstone. ‘This will be in summer time, usually around July to August.’
The timing can vary slightly, depending on your particular weigela variety and the weather that year.
John Clifford is a director of Gardenstone, a leading garden landscaping retailer based in the UK. With over 30 years in the gardening industry and continual work alongside The National Trust, John has amassed an extensive range of gardening and planting knowledge. Alongside his younger son, John has built a strong reputation for Gardenstone as a trusted source for both high-quality garden products and expert gardening advice.
John continues to explain that weigela is one of the best fast-growing hedges, which is why it’s so important to prune straight after flowering. ‘Weigelas flower on growth from the previous year, which starts growing very quickly after the plant has finished flowering. It's important to get in there and prune it before the growth starts, in order to ensure you still get plenty of successful blooms next season and don't damage any potential buds.’
Jamie Shipley, gardening expert and managing director at Hedges Direct, confirms, ‘To ensure the shrub can concentrate its energy on growing the next year’s flowers – and to make sure you don’t accidentally cut off next year’s flower buds, weigela should be pruned as soon as the flowers have faded, usually in late spring or early summer.’
Where to buy weigela
- Crocus: Weigela 'Florida Variegata'
- Gardening Express: Weigela florida Bristol Ruby
- Primrose: Weigela All Summer Peach
FAQs
Can weigela be cut back hard?
Weigela benefits from a hard prune, according to Jamie, but you should wait a while to perform it.
‘Weigela performs best if the majority of the shrub is made up of new wood which means they respond well to a hard pruning. If the pruning hasn’t been sufficient the year before you might find that your shrub doesn’t flower well. If your weigela has struggled during the flowering season, a harder prune is probably needed. Cut larger, thicker stems - which will be older - back to their base to encourage new growth.’
He adds, ‘I recommend January or February for this hard pruning as the shrub will be in the dormant stage but make sure to avoid pruning during a frost as you’ll be exposing your weigela to unnecessary frost damage.’
Does weigela flower on old wood?
If you don’t prune your weigela straight after flowering, it will start to grow on the old wood. Which is not something you want.
‘Weigela will flower on old wood, in the way that the flower buds are formed on the previous year's growth,’ John says. ‘This is why we prune weigela straight after it's finished flowering to avoid cutting off potential blooms for the next season.’
And with all this knowledge, there is nothing stopping you from having abundant beautiful pink flowers adorning your garden year after year.
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