Pieris or Lilly of the Valley bush are wonderful acidic loving plants.

Pieris produces vivid pink and red growing tips, as well as chandeliers of cream flowers in the spring. 

Don’t prune pieris back too hard or you’ll end up with a barren twig that takes ages to regenerate. You really don’t need to prune these plants much other than removing spent flowers and a few inches of stem, so be wary of taking off too much foliage. 

April or May is the perfect time for pruning pieris, just after your plants have flowered. Once the creamy chandeliers begin to fade, remove the flower head and cut back the stem by a few inches to a healthy bud.

One of the most attractive features in pieris plants is the pinkish hue that appears on new shoots. You can promote the growth of these new leaves but cutting stems back to a pair of healthy buds, inducing the plant to create two new stems instead of one.

Removing a small part of the stem back to a healthy collection of buds or leaves. Use sharp secateurs to make a clean cut above this bud.