How to Prune Itea Virginica Merlot

The Itea virginica is more commonly known as Virginia sweetspire. Typical varieties of this shrub grow up to 6 feet tall and wide, but the Merlot variety is more compact, reaching only half the size of other sweetspires. Like other sweetspires, the Merlot flowers with tall, drooping blooms in the spring, but this plant also puts on a show for the fall, with the foliage turning deep wine-red. Pruning the plant should be carefully timed after the plant flowers to take advantage of the greatest number of blooms.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning shears

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Wait for the flowers on the plant to fade after blooming.

   • 2

     Trim the dead flowers off the plant. This does not affect growth and should be done for aesthetic reasons.

   • 3

     Cut stalks more than 2 years old off the plant at the ground level. This encourages new, more vigorous growth.

   • 4

     Remove any vertical branches growing above the top of the shrub.

   • 5

     Prune away any dead or dying branches.