Daily gardening tip · Southern hemisphere · Friday 4 September 2026 · early spring
Wait to Prune Spring-Flowering Shrubs
As early spring arrives, you might feel tempted to tidy up your garden with pruning shears, but cutting the wrong plant now will ruin this season's flowers.
10 minuteseasypruning
Identify any spring-flowering shrubs in your garden, such as jasmines.
Inspect the branches closely to locate the small, swelling flower buds.
Keep your pruning shears away from these specific plants for now.
Wait to prune these shrubs until immediately after they finish blooming later in the season.
Why it works
Spring-flowering shrubs develop their flower buds during the previous year. If you cut the branches back in early spring before they bloom, you remove these mature buds and prevent the plant from flowering this year. Waiting until just after they bloom gives the plant plenty of time to grow new wood and set buds for next year.
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