Should I cut back spirea in the fall?
More drastically cutting back spirea should occur in the fall or in late winter to early spring. Remove any dead branches and use this trimming to shape the shrub. Cutting it way back will stimulate new growth in tighter clusters so that you can get a more rounded, compact shrub shape.
How do you prune a Birchleaf spirea?
Plant Care: Shrub – Hard Pruning (woody multi-stemmed plants that lose their leaves every winter and look best on one year of new growth): Cut down all branches to the base of the plant every year in the late winter or early spring, leaving a few inches with buds to regrow.
How do you take care of spirea bushes?
Growing Tips
- Spirea are tolerant of some shade, but full sun produces more flowers with more vibrant colors and brighter fall color.
- Ensure your shrubs are spaced properly with adequate room to grow to maturity.
- Avoid overfertilizing.
- Deadhead flowers after blooming to tidy up plants and encourage reblooming.
How do you care for a Birchleaf spirea?
This shrub does best in full sun to part shade. It is tolerant of a wide range of soils, but prefers moist, well-drained soil. It flowers on new wood, so prune in early spring, if needed. Removing the wilted flowers will promote more blooms.
How do I prepare spirea for winter?
Japanese spirea should be tip pruned in late winter or early spring prior to bud swell and before the shrub leafs out. Also, at this time, remove any dead, damaged, or diseased stems along with those that cross each other. To keep spirea looking great and to promote blooming, trim the plant at least twice per year.
How tall does Birchleaf spirea get?
3 to 4 feet high
Birchleaf spirea is a great small, rounded shrub, reaching 3 to 4 feet high. It has white flowers in early summer with dark green, birch-like leaves.
How do you prune Spiraea?
How to cut back spring-flowering spiraea. Prune immediately after flowering, as next year’s flowers will be borne on shoots produced in summer. Cut back the flowered shoots to strong new growth below, pruning to a pair of buds.
Do spirea plants lose their leaves in the winter?
All Spireas are deciduous and lose their leaves in the winter. Most bloom between March and May in our area. Some varieties will produce a second set of flowers if the worn out blooms are pruned off.
Does spirea lose leaves in winter?
Does spirea attract ants?
They sometimes cluster in large masses on tender new leaves and buds of spirea. Their feeding retards plant growth, and causes the leaves to curl and turn yellow. Ants, attracted by the aphids’ honeydew secretions, wander over the plants and protect the aphids from natural predators.
How do you prune a Spirea plant?
In the spring, after the first blooms are spent, cut the dead flowers back by trimming spirea’s stem tips back to the topmost leaf on each stem. Throughout the summer, the plants shape can be maintained by cutting back overgrown spirea shoots or stems as well as any dead or diseased branches.
What is birchleaf Spirea?
Birchleaf spirea is a rounded to mounded small shrub reaching 3 to 4 feet high and wide. This plant is native to northeast Asia and Japan. It is found in open meadows, slopes, and rocky areas. Birds and butterflies are attracted to its flowers. The stems are slender, brown, and have slightly peeling bark.
Do Spirea shrubs bloom on new wood?
All spirea shrubs produce flowers on new wood, which is why cutting back spirea shrubs is so important. Spirea pruning not only rejuvenates the plant and encourages blooming, but it also helps to restrain the size of the shrub.
What does birch leaf look like in summer?
Birchleaf is a compact, rounded form of Spirea with small birch-like grayish-green leaves. The tiny white flowers cover the plant in late spring, and if deadheaded, will re-bloom again in later summer. The fall brings a myriad of colors showing red, orange, and purple, an outstanding display.