My Forsythia Bush Has Not Bloomed For The Last Two…
Sharon Asked
My forsythia bush has not bloomed for the last two years. The bush itself is several years old. Last fall I trimmed the bush in the hope that it would bloom this spring. To my disappointment it’s not blooming, just has green leaves. Do you have a solution?
The Gardener’s Answer
Hi, Sharon: We generally think of forsythia as one of the first signs that spring has arrived, but when they do not bloom it can be very disappointing. There are few different reasons why your forsythia may not be blooming. It is possible it is receiving more shade than it has in the past? These shrubs require full sun for best blooms, meaning they should get six hours of direct sunlight each day. Another possibility is that when you pruned your shrub you removed the canes that would have been producing this year’s blooms. Forsythia blooms on one-year-old canes, so when we prune we want to remove the older canes but leave less woody growth. It is best to prune forsythia after it has finished blooming in the spring. The general rule is to remove one-third of the older canes down to the base of the plant. This will get rid of old woody canes that are not producing flowers and encourage new growth that will bloom the following year. One more thought: two springs ago we had a hard freeze and many tender buds were damaged before they could open. This could be the reason for the first year of no blooms and then pruning last fall could be reason for no blooms this spring. This is all speculation because I do not know your exact conditions, but I would guess from what you have mentioned that the lack of blooms is due to a combination of a couple of different circumstances.
