I bought 2 small camellias a year ago. Their height and width at maturity will be about 10′ x 8′. One has 3 trunks. Now they are 4′ tall and the stems are so close, they are rubbing together and the branches cross-mingled. The trunks have hardened and are about 1/2″ to 3/4″ in diameter. Should I prune crossing branches and stems? Should I limit them to one or two trunks? If so, when and how should I prune? My goal is to have them limbed up or narrower at the bottom with a low tree canopy beginning at about 4′. They just finished blooming. The variety is Kremer’s.
Pruning the camellias when they are done flowering, but before they form new buds, should be fine. You are right to observe that crossing branches and branches which are very close will pose a problem as the camellias grow. In Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning (Sasquatch Books, 2006), the author recommends selective pruning to thin out a camellia. Start by removing any dead wood, and then look for crossing and rubbing branches, taking out some (but not necessarily all–you don’t want to strip the plant) of the most obvious problem branches. Since you have young plants, you should not have too much thinning to do. Turnbull’s book also gives instructions for arborizing your camellia by removing the lower limbs. She recommends that you observe the branching structure before proceeding, and visualize what the plant will look like if you remove
some of the branches.
You may find this pruning guide(now archived) helpful. See second page, section III on “Tree-likes.”
The American Horticultural Society Pruning and Training book edited by Christopher Brickell (DK Publishing, 1996) suggests pruning a young camellia by shortening overlong lateral branches to an upward growing sideshoot. Selecting a central leader (main trunk) is also recommended.