Why do my shrubs not flower?

T

Toby

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I have a number of shrubs in the garden that don't flower at all or very very little. They have been down almost 3 years now. Will they eventually flower or is there anything I can do to help them?

There are other plants in the same area that flower nicely each year.

I can check the names of them if thats any help.

Thanks
 
Are you sure they are flowering shrubs? Some don't flower and just have foliege/leaves all year round.

Maybe you have them planted in the wrong location, some like shade or sun in order to prosper.
 
yes definitely meant to flower and they were planted by a gardner who claimed to know what he was doing!
 
Ha! What type of plants are they and where are they positioned? Have you been watering/feeding them well and putting plenty of compost on them?
 
They are most certainly organic and growing very enthusiasticallly in all ways other than the flowers.

They get lots of sun when the Irish climate obliges and are lovingly watered regularly by my daughter and me. I do need to give them a feed for the year but they were well fed last year and still no flowers.

I'll check the names asap.
 
My fingers tend not to be too green, but I couldn't figure out why a load of mine hadn't flowered a few years ago. I went away for a week & they looked like they were about to burst forth!! Turned out my OH went and cut them back.
 
Some plants shrubs need a female and male plants to flower some require help with pollination ,A shrub called Skimia is one of these so the name of your shrubs would be very helpful
 
some varieties of Rhododendron and Magnolia and i think Laburnum, won't flower for years and years. maybe it's one of those? there are probably loads of others like them, but i don't know the names.
 
When you post the names of the shrubs we will have a better idea why they are not flowering; but some of the common causes are:
1. They are not flowering shrubs
2. They were pruned at the wrong time - you should cut the plant after it has flowered and not when it is putting out sprouts which will later form flowers.
3. They are growing in the wrong type of soil.
4. You may have overfed them - some feeds produce excess foliage at the expense of flowers.
5. They are not getting sufficient sunshine
6. If they are Spring-flowering Camellias, they did not get enough water in the preceding Summer.
7. Give them a good mulch every Spring - helps to keep moisture in the soil over the Summer
8. Some shrubs do not like to compete with grass growing too closely.
 
depending on what type of shrubs you have some take time before they flower, someone could have pruned at the wrong time children picking of flowers before they open, too much sun if they are shade lovers , maybe too wet, a sprinkle of bone meal could help, if you find out their names It would help, I could tell you better then. Are they everygreen or deciduous?
 
Hi again and thanks for the adivce.

Here are the details of my non blooming shrubs and climbers, as I said they've been there about 3 years and there are other things flowering well in the garden. None of these have been prumed.

Hydrangia anomala petiolaris - large plant now, lots of leaves and climbing well up wall, 2 flowers seem to be appearing this year.

Lonicera henryi - large plant now, lots of leaves and climbing well up wall

Solanum laxum aureoyariegatum - growing very badly overall even though its in a relatively uncrowded sunny spot

Viburnum bodnantense "dawn" - shrub has grown very well but no flowers at all.
 
Viburnum Bodnantense : You really should be getting flowers from this, numerous clusters of pink and white blooms. In the cold weather, this should flower from January to March, and in mild weather October to March.
How long have you had this plant? It should be showing buds within two years of planting. If you have over pruned, it may be at the cost of flowering. This really should be flowering over the winter when your garden might be otherwise bare.

Will come back with the rest, have to do a bit of work!
 
Smashbox, thanks for researching for me!

Yes I'm dissapointed with the Viburnum, its down 3 years and as I said seems to be growing great except for the flower problem. It has never been pruned. I was going to give up on it as it was taking up a prime spot in my garden but have moved it to a new spot this year so maybe that will help.
 
Work as in proper work!

Your Hydrangea is a climbing one, which takes about 3 years to take hold as a good climber, and about 2 more to flower, so you're talking around 5 years for this one, but once it starts to flower, it will come back every year. It establishes slowly because it tends to focus its energy on spreading out its roots.

Your Lonicera is mostly an evergreen climber, with some small dark honeysuckle like flowers appearing June/July. Also can have berries.

I think you need to just sit tight and wait. Prune a little but not extensivly. Things like these take a long time, so you will be rewarded eventually!
 
Thanks very much Smashbox - thats good news then, the Hydrangea is huge now so should be nice when it starts flowering. I'll wait patiently!

The Solanum just isn't doing well in any way so maybe I'll just plant something else in that space.
 
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