Has your hebe not flowered this year, and you are unsure why? I love hebes as they are reliable shrubs that add structure to a garden, and I look forward to seeing their blooms in Summer!
I work in a garden center, and the one thing that people ask me the most about hebes is, “Why is my hebe not flowering this year?”. Fortunately, I have a lot of experience myself with growing hebe’s, and in this article, I’ll talk about how to identify the problem and how you can get your hebe flowering again.
Want the short answer? Let’s get straight to it…
The most common cause for a non-flowering hebe is because of pruning incorrectly. If hebes are pruned back too hard or at the wrong time of year, then you can cut away the growth from which hebe produces flowers, and the hebe may not flower until the following year.
In my experience, the best way to encourage your hebe to display flowers is to plant them in full sun in well-draining soil, amend with a large amount of compost, and here is the secret to keeping your hebe flowering…prune only lightly straight after flowering (note that annual pruning is not always necessary).
I should note that too much nitrogen can also prevent hebes from flowering from fertilizer or the use of manure when amending soil.
Keep reading to learn what has caused your hebe to not flower and what you can do to ensure a good display of flowers the following year…
Excessive Pruning Can Prevent Hebe Flowering
Do you like to keep your garden tidy and relish, giving your shrubs a good pruning? So, as gardeners, I think we’ve all been guilty of this at some point, haven’t we? The most common reasons for hebes not flowering is because of:
- Pruning the hebe back too hard into old growth.
- Pruning hebes at the wrong time of year.
- Not pruning hebes for many years, and they turn woody and less productive with fewer flowers.
As I mentioned, pruning is the biggest culprit for preventing hebes from flowering. We need to adjust our perspective and let our hebes grow however they like! Hebes are adaptable, low-maintenance plants that generally thrive on neglect rather than too much attention.
Therefore, when you do want to prune them. (Let’s say they got too big for the space they’re in), Then, they require special care when it comes to pruning.
As I mentioned, heavy pruning back too hard into the old woody growth is likely to prevent the hebe from flowering the following year, so go easier with your pruners!
From my observations, with a hard prune, the hebe typically either dies off or the pruning can stimulate new leafy growth in the summer with no flowers, depending on how severely it has been pruned.
To be honest, in most cases, the hebe just grows back rather than die off, but it can take years to flower again as the plant prioritizes the growth of foliage rather than flowering, which is an energy-intensive process for the plant.
So when do we prune? Hebes also should be pruned back immediately after flowering. If your prune too late in the fall or in the early spring, you are likely to remove the growth on which the hebe should display its flowers.
I must emphasize it is not strictly necessary to prune hebes every year in the same way as roses, for example, but if you leave hebes to grow for years without pruning, they tend to grow leggy, unproductive in terms of both foliage and displaying flowers, so we need to find a balance.
Pruning Hebes for Flowers: The best way to prune your hebe so that it retains a good shape and flowers in the late Summer or Fall is to lightly prune it back straight after flowering.
Prune back the green, pliable, more flexible growth and avoid pruning the wood.
What I do is go over my hebe with a hedge trimmer, lightly trimming the foliage into a box or rounded shape.
This style of pruning gives the hebe time to recover from pruning before Winter and allows the plant to put on new growth in the Spring undisturbed so it is ready to display its flowers in the Summer.
If you have missed the optimal window for pruning hebes (straight after flowering), then I would recommend not pruning your hebe to ensure that it can flower the following Summer.
As I mentioned, whilst annual pruning of hebes is not always required, it is also not a good idea to neglect them completely for too long as they can turn woody and unproductive, which results in fewer flowers.
Once they have turned woody and overgrown, it is difficult to revive the hebe, believe me, I’ve tried!
I read online that some hebes, can tolerate a hard prune back into the wood and produce new growth and flowers, so I did a test giving a hebe a hard prune back once when it was so woody and not producing flowers, and it died as I thought it would so I think what I read online was a myth!
The secret is that hebes much prefer a little and often approach to pruning, so give it a light trim every other year n the late Summer or early fall, and your hebe should be able to flower the following year.
Not Enough Light for Flowering (6+ hours of sun is Optimal)
So after all the years of growing, I have found out that my hebe flowers best when I treat them like my Mediterranean herbs (think lavender and rosemary), preferring open areas with full sun with at least 6 hours of sun in Summer being optimal for a good display of flowers.
For this reason, I often recommend that customers plant them in pots or garden beds in the sunniest part of their garden.
However, they can still survive and flower with fewer hours of sunlight, but I must warn you that the fewer hours of sun there are, the less energy the plant has to display flowers in the Summer, so you might have to compromise on your blooms.
What I find with hebes is in too much shade then, there is likely to be less growth of stems, foliage, and flowers.
Is your hebe planted in your garden and difficult to transplant? To provide your hebe with more light and increase the number of flowers, what I do for customers (when I worked as a landscape gardener) is to try to cut back any overhanging tree limbs that may be casting shade or perhaps cut back foliage from nearby plants that may be crowding the hebe.
If the hebe is in the full shade, what I would advise you to do is to transplant the hebe to a sunnier location. Otherwise, the plant is not likely to flower to its potential.
When is the best time to transplant? I would transplant hebes in the Spring or Fall to allow the plant’s roots to establish in the soil without having to contend with full sun and the heat of Summer.
The secret here is to ensure that the garden soil is well draining and amend the soil with compost before planting to ensure the plant has plenty of nutrients and to help retain moisture, as the plant can be more vulnerable to drought straight after planting.
When I’ve personally had to do this, the hebe did not flower its best the following year as it can take time for it to adjust to a new location, but I found it flowered very well the year after once it has adjusted to its new location.
Why is My Hebe Not Flowering After Planting?
So you’ve bought a hebe, planted it, and you’re disappointed but is lack of blooms? I’ve been in the same situation myself! Hebes, (like a lot of plants) do not necessarily flower to their full potential in the Summer after planting. I’ve long since learned that patience is a virtue in gardening!
Non-flowering hebes after planting can be because of:
- Transplant shock as there can be a contrast in conditions for where the hebe was cultivated to the conditions of your garden.
- Hebes take time to establish in the new soil even with optimal conditions. Hebes often redirect their energy into developing roots acclimatizing to the conditions rather than flowering in the first year.
As I found myself, there is not much you can do to promote flowers other than wait for the year whilst the hebe adapts to its new surroundings, however, what I found works is that following the best practices of care helps to minimize any transplant shock:
Success Tips!
- Water the Hebes as frequently as required to maintain evenly moist (but not saturated) soil in the first year of planting to avoid the plant drying out while the roots grow and establish in the soil.
- Amend the soil with compost before planting and add a layer of mulch around the hebe to add nutrients and conserve moisture (leaf mold or more compost are ideal materials for mulch).
- Plant hebe in a sunny area with well-draining soil (avoid heavy clay and boggy areas).
- Avoid pruning in the first year.
With the right care practices and some patience, your hebe should flower well the year after planting when it is more established. Gardening really has been a lesson in deferred gratification for me!
Heavy Clay Soil Can Impact Flowering
What’s your garden soil like? Do you have heavy clay? If so, this could be a problem. Hebes can struggle to flower if they are planted in clay soil because:
- Clay soils can drain slowly, which creates boggy conditions and increases the risk of root rot.
- Clay can bake hard and be too compacted for the roots of the hebe to grow and establish.
If the hebe has to contend with heavy compacted clay soil or boggy conditions, it is likely to be too stressed to display flowers. My advice is to try to avoid planting hebe in heavy clay by planting in pots, containers, or raised beds rather than garden borders.
However, it is possible for the hebe to grow in clay soil if you dig out a large hole for planting and add plenty of compost to improve the drainage and soil structure so conditions are more favorable for the hebe, but to be honest, I do not recommend this as it can be tremendously hard work (I speak from experience).
It is far easier to customize the soil conditions to the preference of the hebe by growing it in a pot. Hebes love good drainage, so I tend to mix in some perlite or grit into the potting mix usually, only about 10% grit (by volume and the rest compost) is what I find works best to promote flowering.
I would transplant your hebe in the Fall or Spring if it is growing in clay soil, as it is going to be difficult for it to survive and flower in these conditions.
Too Much Fertilizer for Flowering
Have you been heavy-handed with the fertilizer? More is not necessarily more when it comes to feeding your plants! If you add fertilizer too frequently or in too high a concentration the symptoms are easy for you to spot. Hebes tend to grow lots of lush foliage and new stems (that can go droopy) but with fewer flowers.
From experience, Hebes are not particularly heavy feeders and do not require frequent fertilizer to flower at their best. An excess of nutrients (Nitrogen in particular) can prevent your hebe from flowering.
In my opinion, hebes actually flower better without most common fertilizers. Why? Because most of the hebes that are cultivated for our gardens grow in fairly harsh conditions, with rocky soil that is relatively low in nutrients, in their native environment.
My hebes that are planted in well-prepared soil with plenty of organic matter and receive the occasional mulch in the Spring do not require additional fertilizer to flower.
If you have added fertilizer of organic material that is high in nitrogen (poultry manure), then scale back any use of fertilizer, and I would wait till next year for the nitrogen concentration to decrease for your hebe to flower properly, but in the meantime, enjoy the green foliage!
Success Tip: When growing hebes in pots, I tested using some liquid seaweed feed in the Spring and found my hebes did grow better. This is because liquid seaweed contains a more modest amount of nitrogen (which is the nutrient that can prevent flowering) while packing a good punch of phosphorous and potassium as well as lots of important trance nutrients and minerals for your hebe to thrive and flower.
Do you have any more questions about hebes? Please leave a comment below, and I’ll reply! I love to hear about your gardening experiences, too!
Key Takeaways:
- The reason for hebes not flowering is often because of pruning at the wrong time of year. If hebes are pruned in the Spring, you remove the growth on which the hebes display their flowers. Hebes do not flower unless they are in full sun and well-draining soil.
- Hebes often do not flower in the year after planting as the energy is redirected from flowering to growing and establishing roots.
- Hebes require well-draining soil and do not grow well in slow-draining compacted clay soils. Amend the soil with compost to improve drainage and soil structure.
- Excess nitrogen in the form of high-concentration fertilizers or because of the use of manure as mulch or soil amendment can cause the hebe to grow foliage with few flowers.