The weigela is a beautiful flowering shrub that delights the hobby gardener with its countless filigree flowers in May and June. She needs a pruning after the end of the flowering period and will thank you with a second flower. We explain what needs to be considered when it comes to care.
When to cut the weigela? Remove faded flowers as early as June
The right time for a grooming cut is in early summer, after the end of the flowering period. The reason for this is very simple – the weigela blooms on old wood. Summer pruning means pruning the shrub before it has formed its flower buds for next year.
Cut weigela after flowering: Give the flowering bush a shape cut
With a caring pruning in summer you can keep the lush flowering shrub compact. The rampant weigela is a problem in the garden because it can crowd out or shade nearby perennials, flowers and shrubs. However, you should be careful and shorten the shrub by a third at most. This allows the shrub to recover well until autumn, sprout magnificently and form flower buds. The young shoots are well hardened before the first frost and the plant is not at risk of freezing in winter.
Rejuvenate senile weigela
The weigela needs a trimming every year. Old shrubs in particular can become old if they are not cut regularly. The wood produces fewer leaves and flowers every year until it becomes completely lignified. To prevent this, you should cut it back annually. The oldest shoots are completely removed and the rest shortened by a third. Anyone who completes this task in midsummer can look forward to countless flowers next year.
Encourage a second flowering in summer
Pruning in June offers another key advantage – it allows for a second bloom in late summer. Certain cultivars, such as ‘Red Prince’ and Weigela ‘Alexandra’, can flower again from August to September with proper care. This includes pruning after the first flowering. In this case, however, only the faded leaves are removed and only the old shoots are shortened. This year’s wood is not cut, as flower buds that have not yet opened form there. You can thin out the shrub a bit for this.
Cutting Weigela: Instructions for a caring summer cut for St. John’s Day
Prune healthy flowering bushes
- the old branches / main shoots over 3 years old – cut off close to the ground
- Shorten this year’s wood without side shoots to a maximum of one third.
- If necessary, thin out the weigela, including all ailing or lignified shoots
- Regularly remove vertically growing shoots
With a caring shape cut
- Shorten the bush by a third. Cut back old wood to 20 cm above the ground.
- Thin out young shoots.
- Completely remove laterally growing shoots.
- Thin out the shrub if necessary.
- Cut off diseased shoots, leaves and flowers.
raise young plants
- Shorten young plants by half immediately after planting them in the garden.
- This pruning in June promotes budding and flowering.
In addition to this, you must remove any diseased, lignified, yellow or wilted parts of the plant.
It is best to make the cut in the afternoon, just before sunset. This gives the weigela enough time to recover. The freshly cut wounds could burn if you cut back in the morning. One variant would be to shade the weigela after cutting and thus protect it from the direct rays of the sun.
Cut and fertilize weigela
To encourage a second flowering, you can also fertilize and water the weigela. In this way, it can better absorb the nutrients from the soil that it needs for renewed flowering. Compost that is worked directly into the root area is ideal for outdoor plants. The weigela in tubs are supplied with liquid fertilizer.
Propagate Weigelia via cuttings and sinkers
The best time to propagate the weigela is right after pruning in the summer. The shrubs that you get in the garden center are mostly hybrids and can only be propagated by cuttings or offshoots.
The best way to propagate is by cuttings. Cut off pieces of young shoots about 15 cm long. Cut the lower end of the cuttings at an angle and leave two pairs of leaves on the plants. Then put them in potting soil up to the first leaf node and water the substrate generously. Never let it dry for the next few weeks and months. Overwinter the cuttings in the greenhouse and then plant them out in spring.
Alternatively, you can multiply the weigela over sinkers. To do this, bend a young shoot and fix it to the ground. Wait for it to root and then cut off the sinker.