Weigela: when and how to prune

Weigela: when to prune it?

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Prune as soon as most of the flowers have faded, in late June or in July. The earlier you prune, the more time the new shoots have to grow and form flower buds.

After late July, stop pruning: next year’s stems are then in full growth, and whatever you cut off won’t flower.

Don’t prune in autumn, winter or early spring: the flower buds for May are already on the stems.

What else to prune in those months? June · July

Weigela: how to prune it?

1. Look at the shrub first. Old stems are thick, greyish brown and much branched, and only flower at the top; young stems are straight, paler and flower most freely.
2. Every year, saw a few of the oldest stems off close to the ground, roughly one in five on a mature shrub. Young stems then grow from the base.
3. Cut flowered stems back to a strong young side shoot facing outwards. The shrub then keeps its loose shape with arching stems.
4. Remove dead, weak and crossing stems, as well as stems growing over the path or into another shrub.
5. Rejuvenate an old, bare shrub over three years: each year after flowering, take a third of the oldest stems out at ground level. That way it keeps flowering every year.
6. After pruning, spread some compost around the base, and water in dry spells: the shrub will then put out strong new shoots.

How much to cut, and how often?

• One prune a year, straight after flowering, is enough. Just let a young shrub grow for the first two or three years.
• Remove no more than a fifth to a quarter of the stems a year: the shrub then renews itself completely every four to five years without ever going bare.
• If it is too big for its spot, take out more old stems at the base rather than clipping the shrub all over, or choose a compact variety when you plant a new one.

What does it mean for wildlife?

• In May–June the trumpet-shaped flowers are full of bumblebees, and the hummingbird hawk-moth sometimes comes to drink nectar. So wait until flowering is really over before you prune.
• Blackbirds, song thrushes and dunnocks like to nest in a dense weigela. Pruning in June–July falls right in the nesting season (15 March–15 August): look carefully between the stems first, as disturbing an active nest is against the law. Spare the part around a nest and prune it the following year.
• Ladybirds and tits usually clear the aphids on the young shoots by themselves: there is no need to spray.
• Prunings can go on a dead hedge in a corner of the garden, shelter for hedgehogs, wrens and insects. Young shoots without flowers root easily as summer cuttings.

Common mistakes

• Pruning in winter or early spring, so the flower buds are gone and the shrub barely flowers.
• Clipping the shrub into a ball every year, so it only flowers a little on the surface.
• Never removing old stems at the base, so the shrub goes bare at the bottom and only flowers at the top.
• Pruning in June without checking for nests first.

Nearby: related pruning guides

• Deutzia
• Beauty bush
• Forsythia
• Lilac
• Spiraea

Similar to: Difference from mock orange · Difference from deutzia · Difference from common honeysuckle

Plant profile: Weigela · Pruning calendar and basic rules