Many shrubs can benefit from occasional or even routine pruning to remove damaged stems, keep the plant in size, rejuvenate for greater flower production or to maintain a formal shape. But there are a few species that should routinely be cut to the ground, at least in our Midwestern climate.
Some shrubs will actually dieback to the ground most winters and then send up new twigs the following spring, effectively performing as if they were herbaceous perennials. With other species, the stems may not actually dieback completely, but their wood becomes weak and spindly if it does survive.
The following plants are best cut back all the way to the ground by late winter, before spring growth begins. Fortunately, these plants bloom on new season’s growth so they will still provide summer flowers, despite having to start from scratch each year.
| Common Name | Botanical Name |
| Glossy Abelia | Abelia x grandiflora |
| Butterfly Bush | Buddleia sp |
| Beautyberry | Callicarpa sp. |
| Bluebeard | Caryopteris x clandonensis |
| Smooth Hydrangea | Hydrangea arborescens (such as Annabelle’ and Grandiflora ‘) |
| Bigleaf Hydrangea | Hydrangea macrophylla (those cultivars that bloom on new wood, such as Endless Summer’ and All Summer Beauty’ |
| Bushclover | Lespedeza sp |
| Russian sage | Perovskia atriplicifolia |