Â鶹Éç

Garden clinic  permalink

Cotinus or Smoke Bush

• Message 1. 

  Posted by KR15 (U15181942) on Sunday, 11th March 2012

  Can anyone advise me how to prune my smoke bush. It is very large and woody and is drooping onto the lawn?

  Link to this forum: Cotinus or Smoke Bush

  Report message1

• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by anothergardener (U14387447) on Sunday, 11th March 2012

  If you're brave enough, and you don't mind the gap it leaves, you can cut the whole thing down to the ground and it will start again - you might need to water it to get it going again if you live in a dry area.
  
  If you don't fancy that, have a good look at the base of the plant and see if you can identify the oldest stems. Aim to cut out about a third of the stems to the ground, choosing the oldest ones, or the ones drooping over the lawn, probably the same thing.
  Then trim back what's left, as much or as little as you want.
  You might lose the flowers this year but the leaves will be larger and better coloured.
  
  New growth will start again from just below where you cut it. If you don't want it to bush out from ground level, you can cut back to an appropriate level from the ground to get the effect you want.
  
  

  Link to this forum: Cotinus or Smoke Bush

  Report message2

• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by Goldilocks (U2169760) on Monday, 12th March 2012

  This year you could prune very heavily. The result will be bigger leaves but no flowers (smoke!) as they form on year old wood.
  Some gardeners prune heavily every year to get the bigger leaves, others prune half the stems each year to get the combination of large leaves and flowers. This year one of mine (Golden Spirit) is getting the full heavy prune because I chose it for its leaves, while the other, the more common Royal Purple, will get a partial pruning.
  

  Link to this forum: Cotinus or Smoke Bush

  Report message3

• Message 4

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by KR15 (U15181942) on Monday, 12th March 2012

  Thank you, it sounds as if I can't go wrong! Just off to have a go.

  Link to this forum: Cotinus or Smoke Bush

  Report message4

Back to top