How To Care For Weigela {A Simple Guide}

So, you’ve discovered this beautiful new plant, and you have realized that it is easy to grow and make your garden beautiful. But, how to care for weigela, and how to make it work well for you and your garden?

We have some great tips for you, so read on for our finest ideas!

How To Care For Weigela?

Although this is a fairly hardy plant, able to cope in most conditions, it does have things that it likes and doesn’t like.

Growing it in its favorite conditions is the best way to make it thrive and reward you with beautiful foliage and pretty flowers.

• Weigela likes to have moist but well draining soil. It likes a good drink, but its roots won’t appreciate sitting around in water!
• Plant it in a sunny spot – this plant likes full sun to partial shade to get the most out of those gorgeous blooms. A spot which receives morning sun and afternoon shade is ideal.
• Mulch it every year with some well rotted compost, to give it a boost of nutrients that it really enjoys.
• You don’t have to use fertilizer – in fact, using the wrong type can actually cause this shrub to not flower very well, so it’s best getting its nutrients from the soil and compost.
• Prune it back hard after the flowering season is done, to allow new growth to start again the following year.
• Keep an eye out for damage to the stems in the winter. These plants are susceptible to sun scald, and won’t thank you for leaving them unprotected.
• If you are planting out a potted weigela, do so in the early spring, so it has time to establish itself before the growing season proper.

This article, although it is not specific to weigela, shows you the best way to grow and care for this type of shrub.

What Conditions Do Weigela Like?

These plants like full sun, mainly, but they can also cope in partial shade too. The sunny position gives them the best flowers, but they will also thrive with partial shade.

They won’t need too much fertilizer, but will benefit from a bit of mulch once a year – doing this in winter will not only help to keep the roots warm but will also help with extra nutrients.

Weigela don’t need to be watered too often, as they get a lot of moisture from the ground. However, you should get your watering can out in really warm weather!

They will need a spot with good air flow, to keep the plant clean and clear of bugs and pests.

Keep an eye on the plants during winter, and consider wrapping them with sacking to prevent the stems suffering from sun scald.

This video takes us through the best conditions to grow weigela in for the best results:

Do You Cut Back Weigela?

Some plants don’t respond well to being pruned, and some really like to have a good trim to encourage new growth.

Weigela is one of the plants that does like to be pruned, as it will encourage new growth and fresh flowers.

1. Wait until the flowering season is all over, to avoid ruining your garden display or damaging the plant.
2. Trim back any branches that have had flowers, to encourage good air flow and help the bush flower the following year.
3. Check for any branches that are more than an inch thick, as these are not the best for flowers.
4. This is a good time to also look for any sick or damaged stems, as these will need to be removed for the health of the whole plant.

Weigela flowers on growth that is a year old, so pruning it back after the flowering season will bring on new blooms.

How Do You Make Weigela Bushy?

The best way to keep your weigela bushy and happy is to give it the right conditions that it likes to thrive.

• Keeping it in a full sun position, adding mulch in the winter, pruning after flowers and keeping an eye out for pests should be all you need to do!
• You may find that your weigela looks a little weedy if it is not receiving enough sunlight – consider moving it to a brighter spot.
• These plants can also suffer from too much light – if it is getting full sun all day every day, with no shade at all, it will not perform at its best.
• The best thing to do, if you want to encourage new growth, is a really good pruning. Trim, it back in the summer, after the flowers are all finished.
• This will give great results the following year – your weigela will bounce back with new, vigorous growth and even better flowers!
• If your weigela is leggy and not producing many flowers, a hard pruning might be in order – you can take it down as small as 4 inches above the soil line.
• Cutting it back this way will prevent the plant from flowering that year, but the following year you should be rewarded with lots of blooms.
• Completely take out some of the secondary stems. This will prevent leggy growth, and help the plant to produce new, bushier stems.
• For a weigela that is in poor soil, you can give it a boost of nutrients by feeding it some organic, slow release balanced fertilizer.

Weigela are generally large, bushy shrubs, so if yours is looking a little poor and spindly then you will need to take some action to make it healthy again.

This pretty flowering shrub is sure to brighten up any area of your garden you plant it in – but it will do better in some places than in others.

Now that you have a better idea of how to care for weigela, you can enjoy the lovely flowers and foliage to your heart’s content!

Weigela Key Facts

Name	Weigela
Scientific Name	Weigela
Family	Diervillaceae
Light Requirements	Full sun to partial shade
Soil Requirements	Moist but well draining, neutral pH
Temperature Requirements	Easygoing and happy with most temperatures
Water Requirements	Avoid excessive watering unless conditions are particularly dry
Fertilizer Requirements	Slow-release fertilizer, applied once a year
Bloom Time	Late spring through to early summer
Pests	Aphids, scale insects, spider mites
Size	12 inches to 16 feet high, 18 inches to 12 feet wide