Prune, when you are able to judge pruning time: There are buds at the nodes on the stem, from where the branches grow out.
Removable of the tips of stems stimulates the growth of branches.
Amongst most shrubs, at least one to three buds are produced from each node.
But this usually depends on the type of shrub.
Most experienced gardeners have a good knowledge on different types of shrubs, different sizes and shapes of shrubs and also know the rate at which these shrubs grow.
That is the reason why they are able to judge when exactly shrubs need to be pruned.
Plants respond in different ways when pruning is done in different seasons of the year.
Latent buds in the pruned plant, get activated due to pruning and then grow well after pruning.
Pruning should be done in the right season: Don't keep pruning the plant whenever you feel like.
A plant requires specific time, for new plant tissues to be formed.
In the pruning process the tips of the plants are removed, and hence you should take care to prune them in the right season and the right time.
Some shrubs start to flower just before summer starts.
The right time to prune these shrubs is early summer, so that the new growth of these shrubs, get appropriate time to ripen as well as mature.
Philadelphus and Forsythia are two examples of these types of shrubs.
Some shrubs need to be pruned in winter or spring, so that they get their next blooms in the following season.
It is best to prune shrubs and plants before they start budding.
Shrubs that flower should be pruned once they flower so that they can keep flowering in their next season, or else they will form seeds instead.
Sometimes bad weather and bad handling can spoil the shrubs.
It becomes essential to prune damaged ones.
For a neat precise pruning job, use a nice pair of secateurs, which you will be requiring every year to prune the plants in your garden.