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Landscape Design Garden Clinic garden

Camellia Pruning

last year

How hard should I cut back my Long Island Pink Camellias now that they’ve finished blooming to ensure fuller shrubs in the future at my Zone 7 home? I’ve done light shaping pruning this week but one has lopsided growth and the other is leggy with very little growth at the bottom. I’ve read some recommendations to wait for late winter for hard pruning but understand that would sacrifice next fall’s blooms. Thanks for thoughts.

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Comments (10)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
This would benefit from a hard pruning. And it can be done as late as the beginning of May without concern for next fall's flowers. Flower buds for the following season are set in mid to late summer.
fenstanton
Original Author
last year
Thanks, GardenGal48. Would it be OK to prune them now or best to wait for spring?
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they take pruning well. i have pruned some of mine to the same shape that you describe. i like to see the trunk, myself, and take off the lower branches that hang to the ground on a few of my japonicas. i also remove some of the weaker, interior growth on occasion.
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Minor pruning should be done at any time but severe pruning is best done after blooming. Here is a link to an article about pruning. Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Camellias by the A.C.S.
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Have a question. I have a Sassanqua that I planted in our shade garden 19 years ago. It's about 6' tall and 8' wide and until winter 2015 looked beautiful. We had a very hard winter that year (-5 as lows for several days) and most of it died back. There is one long limb that is untouched, and some minor new growth at the bottom. I have left it alone now for almost 2 years hoping it would recover -- but am thinking that I would like to try pruning it back to see if it bushes out again, or if I need to remove it and start over. We are in zone 7a so kind of at the edge of its cold tolerance. When should I prune? should I leave the one long branch alone and just cut out the dead wood?
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Luis, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Altho I don't know the name of the camellia, it is a very common type, that's been around a long time. A pale pink rosette, remeniscent of a mandala in petal placement, symmetrical, and fairly flat. It has no cluster of stamens or pistil showing, even when fully open. The tree grows fairly quickly, because it has grown from below the eaves to a foot at least, maybe two feet above the eves in the almost 2 years I've been here, and I haven't fed it, and it gets very little water except that which get gets from rain. I don't want them to get any bigger, they have already outgrown their spots! I see your point tho, so if it grew 18 in two years, then if I prune it 9 inches to a foot below the eaves, that should keep it below the eaves for one year! Thanks, Luis! Or, If I were to be more conservative, prune to 4.5 or 6 inches below the eaves, and then, possibly again in 6 months. Since I wrote the first post, earlier today, I found a link to the American Camellia Society, which encourages severe pruning, even of an old bush, saying it will in fact stimulate the bush. It also says that pruning before bloom and cutting away the flower buds, allows the bush to put more energy into other things than flowering, resulting in a healthier plant, more vigorous growth, and a better bloom cycle the following year. They define severe pruning as removing one third to one half of the existing plant, but say that pruning can be even more drastic than that, and suggest doing drastic pruning in February and sparing the plant the stress of blooming, if I understood it correctly. This article reassures me that it would be fine to prune my camellia bushes at this time. Would you mind taking a look at the article and tell me if you agree? It seems to say that I could safely prune away half of the bush, especially if before the bloom-time. Maybe if I prune it now, it would bloom in winter next year. I'd like that, because that's when the roses are dormant. http://www.camellias-acs.org/display.aspx?catid=3,9,109&pageid=7 Yes, I'll be glad to post photos. and...don't worry about my trees, Luis. I make happy plants around me. Just be specific. -Gala
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Christopher CNC
last year
Those are pretty sparse and leggy camellias. I can't imagine it is a shade problem which makes me think it is a deer problem.
fenstanton
Original Author
last year
Christopher, Thanks for trying to blame deer, but I’m afraid their poor condition is the result of my multiple failures. I planted them too close together 5 years ago, was mainly satisfied that they survived pretty well on neglect but didn’t give them adequate attention after having them transplanted last year. The question now is whether I can salvage them with pruning and better care.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Sasanqua or fall/early winter flowering camellias actually prefer a lot of sun. Too much shade will result in the sparse, leggy look you see here as well as decreased flowering. In addition to a good pruning, siting where they will receive at least 4 hours of early day sun will result in a fuller, denser and a more floriferous shrub.
fenstanton
Original Author
last year
The leggy one is definitely in area that doesn’t get that much sun, I’m afraid.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
tree time is counted in decades.. shrub time in about half that ...

if you want a mature plant that looks like it is 5 years old.. YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO WAIT 5 YEARS ... and STOP CUTTING ON IT ... and in less than perfect sun.. add years ...

fert will never solve the TIME issue ...

unless i misread.. you already pruned it once.. and now you want to prune it again ... WHY ... put down the pruners and STEP AWAY ....

have patience.. and it will come ..

always prune out damaged part ... otherwise plants.. shrubs do NOT need annual pruning ... sounds like an old wives tale to me ...

just stop pruning... and give it 3 years.. and lo and behold.. it will be larger and thicker ... more full ...

ken
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
btw.. this is not a landscape forum issue.. and there is a shrub forum ... no need to duplicate the post.. just fyi ...

ken

ps: a landscaper will always tell you something needs pruning.. its how them make money ... a shrub person might be more interested in what is best for the shrub.. not the winter home payment ....
Christopher CNC
last year
Transplanting can certainly cause them to shed leaves. They are still alive a year later, so yes, they are salvageable. I would hold off on any pruning until spring. They can use the extra leaves over the winter to help them get established. Fertilize and do any pruning in spring shortly before growth resumes.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Unfortunately, you are going to receive comments from those that are not even able to grow these shrubs so their advice may be rather flawed due to lack of familiarity :-)) No one mentioned anything about annual pruning! Or fertilizing!

Like their other ericaceous cousins rhodies and azaleas, camellias have adventitious buds all along their stems that are triggered into growth when the shrub is pruned. It is a long established method for reducing a leggy appearance and creating a shorter, denser plant.

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