When is the best time to trim “burning bush” shrubs?
The best time to do a thorough pruning job like this is in the winter, while the plants are dormant. You can better see what you’re doing when there is no foliage on the shrub. And pruning a dormant tree or shrub is like performing surgery on someone under anesthesia. They won’t even notice it. Since you want to prune down your shrubs quite a bit, you might consider doing the job over the course of two winters. The plants should not be fertilized immediately after pruning. Plants can utilize fertilizer only while they are actively growing. They won’t be actively growing in the winter when the pruning will be done. Fertilizer promotes new growth and should be applied only when plants are actively growing. But unless these shrubs appear to be nutrient deficient, you probably don’t need to fertilize at all. Many home gardeners apply way too much fertilizer unnecessarily.
