Is there an overall rule of pruning non-blooming deciduous plants?
• Generally, the best time to prune anything deciduous is in late winter or early spring just before new growth emerges. The worst possible time to prune is right after everything leafs out, since the plants have just used up most of their stored energy and have not had time to replace it. Fall used to be thought of as a good time to prune deciduous material, but spring is much better if possible. Plants store lots of energy in twiggy growth to help them over winter, and cuts will heal more quickly when the plant is getting ready to grow as opposed to shutting down.
