Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs | Gardener's Path

It was brought home to me one afternoon as I looked out my bedroom window to see if I could find any flower buds on my Magnolia campbellii that bloomed so heavily last year. I saw no newer buds but I did notice some of my other plants were taking up much more space than they should and some were getting shaggy. Pruning ornamental shrubs and trees calls for all of the same tools that are used for roses and fruit trees, plus a good pair of hedge shears.

Cuts on ornamentals may need to be coated with a tree seal just as those on roses and fruit trees do. On checking my tree seal I found it a bit thick for good spreading so using a strong wooden, ladle I added water, beating in a little at a time, until the black mixture was the consistency of honey. Then it could be painted on the wound with a brush without running down the branch.

My first task was the pruning of the Osmanthus fragrans, or sweet olive, just outside the bedroom window. It had been passed over the last two years and was getting quite shaggy. My plant is approximately 10 feet high and I usually keep it about three feet wide. Now, a foot must be removed from each side and the front. Using the hedge shears I started at the bottom and clipped the sides until they were even and fitted into the wall space they were supposed to cover.

The top had to be cut back with toppers as the upward growing branches were too large for the clippers. To keep this plant under control, the correct way I should have spent some of my summer pinching out the stem ends to make the growth more compact.

My Arbutus uneda, aka strawberry tree, is planted at the corner of my drive so neither I nor my neighbor can see to enter the street safely when it gets