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Forsythia: green branches with no blooms? or water sprouts?

Wayne Reibold
13 years ago

My Forsythias are just starting to bloom (I'm new to them), the branches that are blooming are old and craggy looking tan but about half of the branches are very green but no blooms on them. Are the green branches going to eventually turn into old craggy looking branches and bloom over time? or are they water sprouts?

Comments (6)

  • flora_uk
    13 years ago

    Quick answer - 'Yes' to your first question.

    Forsythia blooms on old wood i.e. at least one year old. The non-flowering shooots will flower next year. If you cut forsythia back at all, do it directly after blooming or else you will be cutting off next year's flowers. But it actually doesn't need any pruning except to remove dead and damaged wood or to shape it up.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    13 years ago

    hard to tell much without a picture..

    forsythia needs REJUVENATION PRUNING to bloom properly ... google the term ...

    pruning aside .... buds are set in late summer for bloom the next spring... things that impact those buds are:

    summer drought ....
    fall drought ...
    hard frost or freeze after it comes out of dormancy in spring ...
    among other things ...

    i have 5 acres.. over that space.. i have about 8 feet of elevation ... the plants on the upside.. bloom regularly and perfectly.. year after year ...

    i have one plant.. in a dry swale ... where i presume cold air gathers ... that plant tries to bloom 2 weeks later than the rest [because the soil stays colder down there].. and just about every other year.. fails to bloom completely .. if it were not variegated... it would be long gone ... all i can figure is that they get heavy frost or freezes that kill the buds ...

    the first thing to learn with forsythia.. is how to prune them properly ... i will link for you ...

    as soon as other plants in the 'hood ebb on blooming.. and for about a month after.. is time to start rejuvenating your plant ... you will be hard pressed to kill an established plant.. so once you get at it .. just go for it ... run it over with the car while you are at it.. lol ..

    you will be amazed at the reaction of the plant ...

    good luck

    ken

    Here is a link that might be useful: find one that is understandable to you

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    13 years ago

    Rejuvenation pruning is just that - a process of pruning, usually over a period of time, to rejuvenate overgrown or neglected plants. It is not a routine, annual pruning practice and does not necessarily encourage better flowering unless the shrub is so massively overgrown as to impact flowering. It is not necessarily a practice to consider unless your forsythia is quite mature and getting very large.

    As stated in the previous post, pruning a forsythia is not a requirement for flowering - that plant will bloom on the previous year's growth without any assistance. And as also stated, pruning back too late in the season will hamper flowering the following spring. If your shrubs are newly planted, it may be that they were pruned/trimmed back by the grower and the "green" growth is just not yet mature.

  • Wayne Reibold
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I haven't heard anyone talk about Forsythia water sprouts (I wasn't even sure if they get them - I sure see them on some other trees I have) so I'm going to assume the green branches are just new and will likely bloom Spring 2012.

    I have no intention of pruning them to keep them small shrubs, etc. the only reason I could see pruning is when it makes sense to do so to keep them flowering.

    Thanks everyone for their feedback!

  • Embothrium
    13 years ago

    They're not water sprouts, they're the normal growths made each year. Another popular shrub that customarily makes shoots that do not flower the first year is the raspberry.