When temperatures start to cool off, yard work is more enjoyable. While fall is excellent for pruning some of your plants and removing diseased or damaged branches, it is often not the best time to perform regular trimming on others. Doing so could either kill your plant or tree when winter arrives or prevent it from blooming in the spring.

Below are some of the plants you should skip over as you trim in the fall:

1. Azaleas

Spring blooms like azaleas start developing flower buds on their branches in the fall months. It is best to leave them alone until after their flowers begin to fade around spring. Only then should you trim these plants in stages, removing a little at a time and allowing for at least a month between each pruning session. It’s also best to halt all trimming around mid-June to avoid reducing the number of blooms next season. Other similar plants that blossom in the spring include rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias, forsythia, and dogwood.

2. Roses

Pruning roses in the fall is a death sentence, as they lose the nutrients stored in their branches needed for keeping them healthy through the winter. Trimming during this time also tells your roses that it is time for them to start growing instead of becoming dormant, and all their new growth will die off when the temperature drops.

3. Mophead Hydrangeas

This particular type of hydrangea blooms on old wood, which is the previous season’s branches. If you cut them before they flower, you will have fewer blooms than the year before. To avoid this, it is best to prune these plants shortly after they blossom, but no later than mid- to late-June.

To learn more about keeping your plants healthy year-round, visit Sunnyside Greenhouse. They are Quaker City, OH’s best garden center and provide high-quality perennials, bedding plants, and herbs and vegetables. For more information about the different flowers and shrubs they grow, call (740) 489-5060 or visit their website.