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| Over the last year and a half, Another experienced club member and I have killed 3 of these by pruning. She pruned drastically and I pruned mine moderately. This spring, early April, our club had a booth at the county fair and we had 3 Loropetalums provided among the plants we did demos with.
I styled one drastically, and two inexperienced newer members pruned 1 each very lightly. Mine died in a matter of days and the other two expired a little more gradually. None of these plants were disturbed from their nursery pots. We are in zone 9 on the mid-Gulf coast of Florida. I have gleaned a little info over the internet, but only relating to plants being grown in the ground. No one seems to have any problems with pruning. Have not found any pertainent info from any bonsaiists yet. Does anyone have any input or advise I can use and pass on to the other club members? Thank you. Geezerman (Clay Gratz) |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Clay/Geezerman: Glad you brought this up! I had been noticing a similar odd behavior in potted Loropetalums vs. in-ground specimens. I have Loropetalums growing in my yard here near Atlanta, they grow fast, and get to the point where I cannot shear them because the branches have gotten too thick for the trimmers, so I have had to scalp them occasionally with pruning saws, loppers etc - leaving just a few tufts of leaves on the branches, pruned to a lower height than I want to achieve after regrowth. They back-bud beautifully, and in about a month you would never know I had pruned them. Now, I have put them in a pot, and haven't seen the same results. One (Sizzlin Pink variety) I have had for 3 years in a 16" flowerpot, and, while it hasn't died, it definitely isn't sprouting as vigorously as those in the ground. I can't seem to get it to bud out lower down the leggy stems (which are leafless except in the top few inches, and then lush tips - maybe that's the way they grow?), nor do they thicken that well - 3 years and it's only about 3/4" diam. but is 2 ft high. I bought another one, an unidentified weeping form, earlier this spring, pruned it, and potted it up in a bonsai pot, but it just sits there, while the in-ground plants are ready for their second trimming about 6 feet away! I'd also like to hear someone's explaination on this. Thanks again Scenter/Bruce |
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