Guide for Pruning Ninebark: Tips from Gardening Professionals for Attractive Shrubs and Colorful Displays
Ninebark - the shrub with eye-catching peeling bark - usually flourishes with regular, light pruning. Neglecting this charming plant can lead to oversized, unattractive, or even collapsing specimens after several years.
Ninebark can grow up to an impressive ten feet tall and six feet wide, depending on the variety, making it a fast-growing, versatile shrub. With proper pruning, it remains healthy and vigorous, even more so as it matures.
If you're in the garden of Ninebark, learning about pruning is essential to ensuring your shrubs stay vibrant. This guide offers expert insight on the ins and outs of pruning ninebark, so you can confidently work with pruning shears and stimulate healthy plants.
Is pruning necessary for ninebark?
Shrubs with multiple stems, like ninebark, often prefer regular light pruning. Aim for annual or bi-annual trimming to maintain an appealing, healthy look. However, the frequency of pruning may depend on your approach to gardening.
According to Stacey Hirvela, an experienced gardener and co-host of Gardening Simplified, a ninebark bush requires minimal pruning to thrive. She prefers them unpruned for the romantic, arching branches that characterize this shrub. On the other hand, Nikki Bruner from Perfect Plants Nursery advocates for annual maintenance to thin out older branches and boost air circulation.
Stacey Hirvela boasts an impressive résumé, including attending the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture and working as a rooftop gardener, horticulturist, garden editor, and radio host. She currently serves as marketing manager for Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs and co-hosts the popular radio show, podcast, and YouTube show, Gardening Simplified On Air.
Nikki Bruner brings her passion for plants and nursery industry expertise to her role as marketing manager at Perfect Plants Nursery. She's dedicated to meeting customer needs and delivering valuable insights to plant enthusiasts.
When to prune ninebark
Timing is vital when pruning ninebark for optimal health and show-stopping displays. A well-timed trim will prevent common shrub pruning mistakes.
The optimal pruning time for ninebark is after it finishes flowering, during late spring or early summer. This gives the plant plenty of time to develop new buds for next year's blooms. Early spring pruning is also possible but results in the removal of flower buds, which impacts the current season's display.
Avoid delaying your post-flowering pruning, though. Pruning ninebark from late summer onwards encourages a late burst of growth that is susceptible to winter damage.
How to prune ninebark
Consistent pruning ensures your ninebark shrubs remain attractive and healthy. Easy-to-use pruning tools like pruning shears or loppers make this task a breeze.
Begin by removing any dead, damaged, or diseased branches. Then, look for and eliminate branches that cross, as these create entry points for pests and diseases. Thin out overcrowded areas to improve air circulation and light penetration within the shrub.
Once spindly growth is gone, gently shape the shrub to your desired form, always trimming back to a branchlet or set of leaves, and regularly step back to assess the overall appearance.
For older ninebark shrubs, prune out one-third of the oldest wood every two years to promote new, more vigorous growth. Remove the oldest wood down to ground level to stimulate growth that will flower better in subsequent years.
While ninebark can handle tougher pruning, adhere to the one-third pruning rule and avoid overzealous pruning when performing selective pruning rather than rejuvenating the plant.
Can you hard prune ninebark?
Ninebark shrubs are resilient and can tolerate hard pruning. This method might be used to rejuvenate neglected or overgrown plants. Hard pruning involves cutting back all stems to 4 to 6 inches from the base, resulting in a smaller, neater shrub that does forgo the current year's blooms.
However, this technique isn't recommended for all spring-flowering shrubs, such as witch hazel, which can get extremely stressed when cut back to ground level and may die as a result. Always research and confirm whether hard pruning will harm or help your specific shrubs.
Ninebark can benefit from a lifestyle that includes regular pruning, as it helps maintain a healthy and aesthetically pleasing home-and-garden space. With the right pruning techniques, one can effectively groom their ninebark shrub, promoting vibrant growth and beautiful blooms within the home-and-garden setting.
