When to Prune Heather Bushes in the Pacific Northwest?

Timing

• In the Pacific Northwest, heather blooms for six to eight weeks from late summer into early fall. Pruning should be done each year soon after blooming ends and before new foliage growth begins in late fall. Heather's foliage colors intensify as temperatures cool. Timely pruning gives its growing tips time to harden before winter and allows for maximum new growth. Timed properly, pruning optimizes heather's vibrant winter and spring foliage of yellow, bronze, orange and blazing red.

Growth Habit

• Depending on variety, heathers are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 7. They range from low, ground-cover types to upright or spreading forms. Regardless of cultivar, when blooming is complete, each bloom stalk sheds its leaves along the length where flowers were held. Several inches of bare stem can be left behind. Unless that bare stem is pruned away, it remains without foliage and new growth begins at the outer tip of that bare stalk. Sparse foliage and lanky stems leave your heather looking less than its best.

Pruning

• Even if tufts of new growth have started, pruning should still be done. Cut stems back to where you find green foliage below the point where the bare bloom stalk begins. Don't be concerned about new growth being lost farther up the stalk. Heather responds well to thorough pruning, which causes more branching and fuller growth. Pruning can be done stalk by stalk with hand pruners or with handheld hedging shears to expedite the work. Just be sure to remove all the bare stems back into where green foliage starts below.

Precautions

• When pruning your heather, never prune beyond the green foliage into the woody branches at the base of the plant. Take stems back just into the beginning of active foliage growth below the old bloom stalks. Pruning all the way into the woody stems at the base of your plant may stress it beyond the point of recovery. Your heather needs plenty of foliage to bounce back from pruning, prepare itself for the season ahead and fill the winter and early spring landscape with brilliant splashes of color.