Golden Spirit Smoke Bush Pruning
He started by trimming off the numerous small upper branches with long handled loppers.
Golden spirit smoke bush pruning. Newly introduced in 1999 golden spirit is among the best new shrubs in america today. This will force new growth and tighten the overall look of the bush. With the plant still dormant in the chilly late winter weather john gave our new smoke tree to bush pruning method a try. The species is native to drier regions from europe eastward into china.
Alternatively prune to thin it removing up to one third of the oldest misshapen and unproductive stems. Golden leaves are coveted for high contrast foliage compositions. Prune a smoke bush back to stands 12 to18 inches above ground for subsequent years. As he worked his way down the tree he switched to a bow saw to cut through the thicker branches.
The difference in last summer s tree growth and this summer s is crazy check out this side by side comparison. Cut smoke tree blossom wands have become favored by upscale florists in new york city. Some people do this every year to get larger leaves of course at the expense of the flowers though. Cut back hard in late winter or early spring to promote growth of new shoots and enhance the lovely leaf coloration of purple leaved varieties.
Golden spirit ancot is a smoketree cultivar that is grown for its unusual golden foliage. Smoke tree pruning for a bush is much less laborious. You may allow the extra branches and simply prune limbs to manage shape. Again cut the plant s oldest and thickest branches down to 2 or 3 feet and.
This is a deciduous upright loose spreading multi stemmed shrub that typically grows 8 15 tall and as wide however it can be easily kept more compact through annual pruning. Propagate by semi hardwood cuttings. Yes they respond well to hard pruning right back to 2 3 buds from the base. The smoke bush has a number of.
As you can see our pruning efforts had the opposite effect that we d planned. Note that such hard pruning while controlling the plant s size will be done at the expense of abundant flowering. If you try to have it both ways to prune it in between the shrub winds up looking like a clipped poodle with leggy growth sporting foliage only at the ends. The natural splayed nature of growth can be amended by cutting the plant almost to the ground in late winter.