Q: I heard from a friend that since I have some shrubs that bloom early in the spring, I can prune some branches early to bring indoors. I thought that spring-blooming shrubs were supposed to be pruned after they bloom. What do you think?
A: Many spring-blooming shrubs and trees are best pruned by what is called the shrub renewal method of pruning. Most of these shrubs send up a lot of stems from the ground, and they can get to be a mess. They also tend to bloom best on stems that are less than four years old. So, if you prune out about a quarter of the largest branches at the ground level each spring, you renew the plant with the best flowering branches. In four or five years, you have a whole new plant.
