| angel1123, Here in the metro Phoenix area I've seen two species blooming in the last week or two - Leucophyllum frutescens and Leucophyllum laevigatum. A general rule for pruning flowering shrubs is to wait until after they have bloomed. For the leucophyllums (Texas sage) blooming is throughout the warm months and the recommended time to prune is in February or March. You can remove as much as one-third of the foliage at this time without causing too much stress. From now until October the sages will bloom intermittently with splashes of color - some are even fragrant. If you prune now you will be removing the bud wood from which the blooms will be produced. As mentioned in a previous post, light pruning can be done nearly anytime, just don't shear your plants. Instead use hand pruners to selectively remove portions of branches to reduce the size at varying lengths. This will result in a more natural looking shrub and will have less impact on its blooming potential. Here is a link to a great book on pruning. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning, Planting & Care
