May Garden Tips

Cleveland Sage

Best kept dense with early training and light tip-pruning once woody.

When young, Cleveland sage can be cut back in winter by about a third (or a little more) to encourage a fuller plant. Once it becomes woody, avoid hard cuts—stick to light tip-pruning and shaping.

The foliage is famously fragrant—often described as “clean, like a sweet desert morning”—and the blooms attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

White Flowering Peach

Prune after bloom for a strong flower show next year.

Once flowering is finished, shape lightly and remove crossing or crowded branches. Avoid heavy pruning later in the season, which can reduce next year’s bloom.

Angel’s Trumpet Trees

Shape after frost risk is gone; keep cuts purposeful.

Angel’s trumpet is often pruned in early spring after the last frost. If you’re still shaping in May, focus on structure: reduce long branchlets back to one or two buds and remove weak or awkward growth.

Buddleia (Butterfly Bush)

Blooms on new wood; stronger pruning = stronger regrowth.

Buddleia flowers on new growth. The classic approach is a hard cutback in late winter/early spring. If it wasn’t done earlier, you can still reduce the plant now—just expect a short delay in bloom as it regrows.

Deadheading helps encourage additional flowering, but heavy pruning during peak bloom will reduce flowers temporarily.

Pittosporum tobira (Mock Orange)

Don’t prune now — protect the fragrance.

Try not to prune pittosporum while it’s flowering. The blooms can be subtle visually, but the fragrance is a major feature. Shape after flowering if needed. This is a dependable, low-maintenance plant (including variegated forms).

Pineapple Guava (Feijoa)

Great time for shaping and cleanup.

Late spring is a good window to trim and shape pineapple guava. Remove awkward branches, thin lightly for airflow, and keep the natural form rather than tight shearing.

Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum)

Don’t prune now — enjoy the bloom and scent.

Star jasmine is usually in prime flowering season now. Prune only if absolutely necessary so you don’t remove the flowers and fragrance. It can be trained as a groundcover, shrub, or vine—shape it after the main bloom flush if you need to control size.

Dietes (Dietes iridioides)

Deadhead blossoms individually; keep flower stems until they stop producing.

To reduce self-sowing and prolong bloom, remove spent blossoms by hand. Don’t cut the flower stems right away—many stems continue producing blooms for a long time. Once a stem clearly stops flowering, cut it back to a lower leaf joint.

This plant can survive on minimal water once established.

Lantana

If it’s getting too vigorous, this is a “control” pruning window.

If lantana wasn’t cut back earlier and is starting to run, you can still prune it down (often to 6–12 inches). You’ll lose some bloom short-term, but lantana flowers heavily through summer. This is a good time to reset size before peak summer growth.

Low water needs once established, and a vigorous bloomer.

Euryops

Blooms much of the year—prune anyway to prevent legginess.

Because it flowers so often, euryops is frequently left unpruned and can become lanky. Light pruning a few times per year keeps it dense and attractive. Blooms return quickly, often with renewed vigor.

Rhaphiolepis (Indian Hawthorn)

After bloom, do minimal pruning and keep the natural form.

Once flowering finishes, do a light shape and cleanup. Mature plants are slow growing and usually only need trimming once a year. “Inside-out pruning” (selective thinning) helps light reach the interior without turning it into a tight green box.

Magnolia stellata & other early spring flowering trees

Prune soon after bloom—selective cuts only.

The best time to prune most flowering trees is shortly after blooming finishes. Avoid topping or shearing. Remove crossing branches and shape selectively to maintain structure.

Palo Verde & Mesquite (desert legumes)

Limit pruning now—save heavier work for later.

For desert legume trees, keep pruning minimal in late spring. Remove dead wood and very small limbs as needed, but avoid heavy pruning that stimulates tender growth right before summer heat.

Coleus

Pinch flower spikes early to keep plants compact and leafy.

Coleus is often treated as an annual. The blue flower spikes can be pretty, but they usually distort the plant’s shape. Pinch flower spikes at the bud stage to keep coleus bushy and focused on foliage.