I have a Valley Rose Pieris which has finished blooming. I wanted to trim it, but noticed that it has small green buds on the branches. What would be a good time to trim this plant?
The best time to prune Pieris is in the spring when it is done flowering. You can prune it to the shape you desire. It grows new shoots readily from old wood, according to Peter McHoy’s Pruning: A Practical Guide (Abbeville Press, 1993). There are more detailed guidelines in Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning (Sasquatch, 2006). She says you can remove up to a quarter of live foliage without endangering the plant. Always remove dead, diseased, or awkward growth first. She recommends thinning out branches which are too straight, too skinny, or wander too far. Working from the inside of the shrub outward, your goal would be to make the growth less crowded. Pieris also responds to being “limbed up” and treated like a tree, with lower branches removed, if that is a shape you prefer.