Forsythia are one of the most flowering ornamental shrubs in our gardens. It is therefore not often that a forsythia does not bloom. If the shrub does not develop flowers, there are always care errors. Most of the time the plants were cut at the wrong time.
Why isn't my forsythia blooming?
If a forsythia does not bloom, it is usually due to incorrect pruning. Flowers arise on last year's shoots, so pruning should be done after flowering in May, removing old shoots and leaving last year's shoots standing.
Possible causes of forsythia not blooming
- Cut at the wrong time
- Too radical pruning
- Removal of previous year's shoots
- Sudden cold snap with minus temperatures
Pruning at the wrong time
The flowers of the forsythia develop on the previous year's shoots. If you prune at the wrong time or radically shorten, cut off these shoots. So it's not surprising if the forsythia doesn't want to bloom.
Regular pruning is necessary so that the bushes do not go bald and there is more space for the new shoots. You prune the forsythia correctly if you only remove the old shoots and leave the shoots from the previous year.
You should prune immediately after flowering in May. Then you can see much better which forsythia branches have borne flowers and can now fall victim to the scissors.
Do not cut forsythia in autumn
For many garden lovers, it is a tradition to prepare the garden for winter in the fall and cut back all the bushes.
With forsythia, pruning like this is fatal because you remove all the flowers.
If you want to cut in autumn, then only dead shoots and branches that are heavily branched.
Goldilocks only cut back radically in an emergency
Radical pruning also results in the forsythia not blooming. You can only cut the bush down this much if it is infected with fungi or has not been cut for years.
No flowering due to frost
If the temperatures drop significantly below freezing point during the flowering period of the forsythia, the flowers of the otherwise completely hardy ornamental plant freeze. Unfortunately the flower fails completely. Snowfall, on the other hand, doesn't affect the forsythia flowers so much. It usually continues to bloom anyway.
Tips & Tricks
Forsythia blooms in April. If a supposed forsythia is in full bloom in March or even in winter, in most cases it is not forsythia, but winter jasmine.
