Pruning Royal Purple Smoke Bush
In general this plant is a specimen type plant that will need some pruning.
Pruning royal purple smoke bush. Editor steve aitken and joann viera of tower hill botanic garden show you how to prune smokebush. As you can see our pruning efforts had the opposite effect that we d planned. While the royal purple smoke bush can grow in part shade its color will be more prominent if planted in full sun. Smoke trees tend to have a rangy splayed growth habit.
The royal purple smoke bush cotinus coggygria royal purple gets its name from the tiny flowers that appear in spring and early summer giving the impression of a cloud of smoke. The difference in last summer s tree growth and this summer s is crazy check out this side by side comparison. How to prune a purple smoke tree. The smoke bush has a number of fine cultivars such as royal purple with maroon leaves and golden spirit with yellow leaves.
A haze of seed bearing puffs float over the leaves of the purple smoke tree cotinus coggygria also known as the smoke bush or venetian sumac. Answer when looking at the photo of your smoke tree cotinus coggygria enlarged it appears to be the green rather than the purple variety. There are several smoke tree varieties royal purple velvet cloak grace golden spirit and more with deciduous leaves that vary from green to deep red to dark purple. Instead of keeping the smoke tree nicely shaped and at a reasonable size we seem to have created an even more out of control growth situation.
According to the connon nursery catalogue 2009 it has reached about its maximum size. Only prune in early spring before the plant leafs out. I have seen advice on pruning relatively young shrubs but nothing on a mature speciman. Growing 10 to 15.
Smoke tree is an ornamental shrub to small tree that is grown for the bright purple or yellow leaves and the spring flowers that mature and puff out as if they were clouds of smoke. Smoke bush cotinus coggygria is one of those plants that can grow either as a tree or shrub. Pruning is very important to the overall look of the plant because it grows in a rather erratic pattern. If you want to grow it as a smoke bush rather than a smoke tree yearly prunings are a must.
Pruning smoke trees annually will help make the plant more compact and strengthen the limbs. It s a colorful ornamental plant genus name.