I have a beautiful trumpet vine which grows against a south-facing fence. It flowered for the first time this year. Several sources say to prune it in March. Is that correct, and if so, how close to the ground should it be pruned? Also, I’d like to plant a few to climb my pergola. Should they be planted in the ground or would large pots be OK?
Your sources are correct, although my research indicated that ‘late winter to early spring’ is fine for pruning Campsis radicans. Whenever you prune, you want to consider that frost (or even cold weather and/or wind) can damage new growth–March is generally considered a safe time from that perspective.
Trumpet vine flowers on growth produced during the current season, so you can cut it back hard if you are trying to control its growth. Pruning it to within 6-8 inches of the ground (when it’s young or if it needs a renovation later on) will encourage vigorous growth of a stout, strong set of basal branches.
The American Horticultural Society’s Pruning and Training (DK Publishing, 1996), says the following:
- Select two or three of the strongest shoots and remove the rest.
- Train [them] to the supporting wires or trellis (…) until shoots extend fully over the allotted space (…) it may take two or three seasons to complete the framework (…)
- Once it is established, prune the plant annually, spur-pruning all lateral shoots back to within two or three buds of the main stems.
If you prune it to the ground next year, you can begin to develop a strong framework, if you haven’t already. Otherwise, you can prune as needed to the suggested two or three buds from the main stem. You can also follow this set of instructions if you choose to do a renovation. Over time, this vigorous plant may outgrow its space; you can then cut it to the ground and let it come back. It responds well to hard pruning.
I did not see mention of this plant in any of several books I consulted about container gardening. While that does not mean you cannot grow this vine in a pot, my suspicion is that the stout base required of this vigorous grower may not develop in a pot. This plant does need sufficient room for a root system that can support the base and each season’s growth. If possible, I think you should plant the vines in the ground.
When should I cut back angel’s trumpet and can I replant the part that was cut?
I’ve checked a book called Brugmansia and
Datura: Angel’s Trumpets and Thorn Apples by Ulrike and Hans-Georg Preissel.
It has a whole chapter on growing angel’s trumpets from cuttings as well as a
section on pruning them, which should be done after they bloom. As you probably
know, they can’t take freezing temperatures, so people often prune them in the
fall to make them easier to bring into a greenhouse (for overwintering warm) or
41-50 degree room (for overwintering cool). The important thing to remember is
to confine your pruning to the flowering part of the plant, so you don’t have to
wait as long for more flowers. The book says you can tell the flowering part of
the plant by looking closely at the leaves–the flowering part has an
asymmetrical leaf base on each leaf, but the base of the “vegetative” leaves is
symmetrical.
The cuttings you take can be used to start new plants, and the success rate will
vary depending on the time of year (spring and summer cuttings work best) and
the variety of angel’s trumpet you have. Viruses can be a problem, so keep your
shears very clean. You can often get them to form roots by placing them in a
jar of water so that only the lowest 1.5 inches of the stalk are under water.
Alternatively, place woody fall cuttings “about 10 inches long…in a mixture of
peat and sand, in vermiculite, or in pumice… temperature between 53 and 64
degrees… Many of these cuttings will form roots by the following spring. For
root development the cuttings need the same light levels as for good growing
conditions… It is a good idea to pot all cuttings into a nutrient-rich soil as
soon as possible after they have formed roots.”
I live in Wausau, Wisconsin. Our city planted small
maples two years ago near the street. They are now about 8-10 feet
tall. Both of ours show some encircling roots above the surface of
the ground under the mulch. The roots are about 1/2 inch diameter in one case
and a bit larger in the other. Is it too late to prune these
away? Any other suggestions?
The answer to your question will depend, to some extent, on the
type of maple tree you are growing. Silver maple will tolerate
root-pruning, but sugar maples are intolerant of it, and can be
more likely to break in windstorms if roots are pruned. There is
always some risk of loss involved in root-pruning a tree.
Source: Iowa State Extension.
Since encircling roots are not good for the tree, you probably will
need to prune, but it would be best to consult a certified arborist
in your area to make sure this is done correctly. University of Minnesota
has a guide (now archived) called “Stem Girdling Roots: The Undergound Epidemic Killing Our Trees” by Gary Johnson. Excerpt:
Removal is the most common treatment of encircling roots or SGRs
that have caused minimal stem compression. Roots may be removed
with wood gouges, saws, or pruners during the examination process.
When SGRs have caused extensive stem compression and are fully or
partially embedded in the stem, modify the removal treatment to
avoid damage to the stem. Embedded and severely compressing SGRs
are often left in place when they cannot be safely removed; there
is some belief that SGRs reduce the typically short life span of
urban trees by only a few years, and the potential damage
associated with SGR removal is not justified (Watson et al. 1990;
Tate 1981). A compromise is to prevent the SGR from growing and
further compressing stem tissues by severing it at the edges of the
stem. Remove the remaining root to a distance where it no longer
poses a threat to the stem and allow the severed SGR to decay with
time. Annual examination of the stem to assess for decay is
recommended.
The season during which SGRs are removed might influence the
success of the treatment. Smiley (1999a) found that summer removal
resulted in better diameter growth over two years than did fall
removal or a combination of summer and fall removal for red maple
trees under an irrigation system.
Regardless of treatment, do not backfill the examination area.
Lightly mulch the exposed roots but not the root collar flare or
stem area. Subsequent examinations will not require the
time-consuming removal of soil.
To find a certified arborist in your area, you can search your
local chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.
We leave for about 5 months in the winter and by the time we
get back our sword ferns have sprouted and it’s hard to prune the old
fronds out without cutting off the new ones. These ferns are in a fairly
protected area, so I was wondering if it would be okay to cut off the old
fronds in October before we leave? Also would it help if we just cut the
old fronds and lay them over the plant to help protect it over the
winter?
There are some slight differences of opinion on cutting back sword ferns.
It might be fine to cut the old fronds this fall and leave them as
protection over the winter, but it isn’t really necessary to cut them
back until early spring, if at all. The local web site for Great Plant
Picks recommends cutting sword ferns to the ground in late winter, or
only cutting back every 3 years or so on plants growing in poor soil:
Paghat’s Garden, another local gardening site recommends only cutting away dead fronds. Excerpt:
It was once believed it was necessary to cut all the fronds off in
February immediately before new growth begins, but it is now the
recommendation to only trim dead fronds. By April when the fiddleheads
are thickly erupting, any of last year’s fronds that have lost their
beauty should be removed, but only for looks’ sake, removing up to as
many as all of them. They’ll soon enough be replaced by new. Just don’t
remove the fronds before winter’s final frosts, as the reason this fern
adapted itself to keeping its fronds green at least until winters’ end is
to shelter & protect the humping crown from excessive cold or from
sunlight in winter when deciduous trees might not adequately shade the
rootcrown.
Since your plants are in a protected area, you might be able to go ahead
with your October trimming, but really the main reason to trim is an
aesthetic one, so it isn’t absolutely necessary.
Can Crocosmia be pruned or cut way down? When? The tall leaves are looking ungainly.
According to The Plant Care Manual by Stefan Buczacki (Crown, 1993), you should cut back the foliage as it discolors.
According to the Royal Horticultural Society, perennials that produce leaves and flower stems from below the soil level, such as crocosmia and peony, are cut back to soil level.
I recently bought an Abelia ‘Edward Goucher.’ When I got it home, I noticed a lot of the stem tips were broken off. I figured it probably happened when the salesperson pulled it away from the other plants. I tried to be very careful when I planted it, but again, some of the tips bent and broke. Then after a rainstorm the other day, I found a couple more broken. I love the plant, but is it going to be that fragile? I planted it on the southwest side of my house. Will the stems grow more sturdy?
Also, what is the best way to prune it? I thought I read that you shouldn’t just trim branches but rather take some back to the ground. So if branches keep breaking, what will happen?
Woody shrubs purchased in nurseries often have the damage you describe, mainly from being packed into a truck for transport from the grower. Abelias are not particularly fragile when established – the branches thicken up and get stronger with time. You are right about not trimming (shearing) branches but cutting them to the ground or to a strong main branch.
The best guide to pruning abelias that I found is in Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning (Cass Turnbull, 2004, Sasquatch Books). She recommends removing whole branches if they are dead or damaged. When the plant is older, she suggests removing some of the lower branches that grow along the ground, and some of the taller branches that grow straight upwards. As mentioned, prune them back to a main stem. You can remove up to a quarter of the branches at a time. Pruning is best done in the winter months; pruning an abelia during the growing season will encourage it to grow even more. (In your situation, though, you might want to do some pruning during the growing season to encourage this sort of quick growth.)
Of course, if all your branches are broken, you will have to wait a year before you can do this kind of pruning – don’t cut them all off. Old, overgrown plants can be cut to the ground for renewal, but a new plant probably will not survive this.
Finally, remember that this variety grows to 5 feet. Trying to keep it smaller by shearing it will lead to growth of water sprouts, and even more pruning…Cass explains all of this very well.
Is it all right to cut off the hanging pods from the Japanese
Wisteria? Will cutting them have any adverse affects to blooming next
year? Some are hanging so long that we keep walking into them! Maybe I should cut them and bring them inside for decoration.
Cutting off the seedpods on your Wisteria is not a problem, just be
careful not to cut the stems back too far (unless you are intending to
prune, which you can certainly do if you need to control growth) as there
may be buds further up which will be next spring’s flowers.
Fine Gardening online has a helpful illustrated article on wisteria pruning which includes the following:
“Some seedpods may be left on the vine for winter interest, but just know that if you bring them inside, warm temperatures will cause them to explode.”
You may find the following links to general information on care and
pruning of Wisteria helpful:
Excerpt from an article, “Pruning Vines,” by Donald Hodel and Dennis Pittenger:
Pruning wisteria extensively during the dormant season may
encourage rampant vegetative growth the next spring.
Instead, in July prune out the long, straggly growth
except those branches needed for climbing. This is more
likely than anything else to induce flowering. Shoots
should be cut back one-third to one-half their length.
This will induce them to produce the short spurs that will
bear next season’s flower clusters.
![[Essential Pruning Techniques] cover](https://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/graphix/Essentialpruningtechniques.jpg)
One of the classics of horticultural literature is The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers by George E. Brown. Published in 1972, it surveyed the best practices for pruning used on the numerous and wide-ranging woody plants of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew near London.
Brown died in 1980. Tony Kirkham, the current head of the arboretum, gardens, and horticultural services at Kew, updated his work with a second edition in 2004. Now Kirkham has published a further revision and considerable expansion of Brown’s original work with Essential Pruning Techniques (2017).
This new book is most obviously different by its inclusion of the excellent photographs by Andrea Jones. These not only illustrate pruning challenges and techniques for addressing them, they act as a guide to the collections at Kew, showing a wide selection of woody ornamentals suitable for any temperate garden or arboretum.
While trees predominate, there is a good selection of shrubs and vines, too. Each entry describes the growth habit and the reasons for pruning, which is some cases is “little pruning needed.” Most helpful are the Brown and Kirkham insights to the individual goals for each species – what should be done so “…the form and beauty of trees and shrubs in summer and winter be fully realized.”
Published in the August 2017 Leaflet for Scholars, vol. 4, issue 8
Winter is a good time to prune because the branch structure of trees and shrubs is clearly visible. Winter is certainly not the only time for pruning, but the list of competing garden chores is typically shorter in winter. Here are a few websites to check out before pulling out the pruning saw:
By Thanksgiving most leaves have fallen off deciduous trees. Some people feel a strong desire or obligation to prune when they see these naked trees. If you’re one of these people remember that most trees and shrubs don’t require regular pruning, other than to remove dead, dying or diseased branches. However, if some correction or thinning is necessary arm yourself with one of the excellent pruning books:
- Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning: What, When, Where & How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden (Sasquatch, $17.95) – Turnbull demystifies pruning with humor and helpful diagrams.
- The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers by George Brown (Timber, $29.95) – This classic reference work has been revised and enlarged by Tony Kirkham to reflect recent advancements in pruning; it includes a plant by plant guide to special considerations.
- An Illustrated Guide to Pruning by Edward Gilman (Delmar, $26.25) – A text book for professionals or serious gardeners, this book includes information on training young trees and has many illustrations.