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Camellia?
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Posted by
chucktownmama South Carolina (
My Page) on
Thu, Nov 1, 12 at 21:41
| Just bought a house and don't have much of a green thumb, so need to figure out what we've got. I used some "identify that shrub" websites and thought maybe this could be a camellia? The flowers were more lavender when they started blooming about a week ago; now they look more pink. Whatever it is, can I cut off the top of it to make it grow lower to the ground? I think it's too tall where it is. Thank you! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Camellia?
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| Yes, it is a Camellia. You can trim it, but it was always want to return to its mature size so your best bet may be to move it somewhere else. |
RE: Camellia?
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 2, 12 at 2:07
| Established camellias can be tricky to move, the roots are like rubber-coated wires, with long stretches of infrequent branching. You can cut the top anywhere on the framework and it will grow back, rather slowly. So it might be possible to keep it in the same spot but just cutting it low periodically, starting it over, letting it go until it gets too tall again, some years later. |
RE: Camellia?
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| If you continually cut it back to fit into a small space, you may end up removing all of the flower buds. It is best to choose the right plant for the right place. |
Here is a link that might be useful: right plant right place
RE: Camellia?
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| If moving it is not an option, trimming is best done right after the blooms are finished, if you want the best possible show of flowers the next year. If you need to remove a lot of height, you may want to do a multi-year approach. The first time, trim the front to look great, but trim the back much lower, lower than you want the shrub to be when allowing for growth over the next year. The next year, the front can be trimmed much lower with the new growth in the back present above that level, to maintain the appearance of having a certain-size shrub. The third year, get everything even to desired height (allowing for the amount of growth you have seen will happen yearly.) This should get you in position for a regular trimming of approx. the amount of growth the plant normally produces in one year. Occasional "wrong-time" trimming of errant branches will keep it looking as un-straggly as possible throughout the year. Instead of front/back, you can also do an inside/outside approach, removing the center of the shrub the first year, the outer ring the next, or vice-versa.
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RE: Camellia?
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| Thank you everyone! I think I'll try the multi-year slow trim and other than that just accept it. I guess it's good it decided to bloom when it did (on the day of closing); otherwise I might have just chopped it down. It is very pretty. |
RE: Camellia?
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 2, 12 at 12:52
| I was talking about leaving it unpruned for years at a time between renovation-style cutting back down low. I see no point in removing whole branches and leaving the rest in place, in this instance. For one thing this produces gaps, for another the height of the remaining branches is not eliminated unless these are shortened at the same time. Much simpler just to cut it all off periodically and then not touch it again until it begins to loom. After each whacking down there would be a short period of few or no flowers, then a long time of regular production. With annual trimming you can't necessarily count on the remaining growth flowering the very next year, whether you prune at the perfect time or not. |
RE: Camellia?
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| They are truly beautiful trees and flowers, if you just moved there maybe give it a chance to grow on you. |
RE: Camellia?
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| Is this the only camellia you have? Is it planted alone or in a line of foundation plants? What do you think of allowing this shrub to reach its full potential but limbing it up (pruning away the lower branches) to expose the trunk or trunks like a small tree? Tree-forming a camellia is a tried and true method of turning a ho-hum broad leaf evergreen into a specimen. |
RE: Camellia?
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Fall and winter blooming camellias really bright up days here in rainy Oregon.
There are many books and web sites about camellias, how to prune and graft them. Here is a forum on GardenWeb too. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Camellias forum
RE: Camellia?
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| Just don't make it look like this Camellia planted by a law office on King Street in Hendersonville NC. |
RE: Camellia?
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| ^Is that a climbing Camellia? I have seen some trained on trellises. I can't tell what is going on with that one. |
RE: Camellia?
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| No, it's a butchered Camellia that has been shaped like a cube. |
RE: Camellia?
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| Cubellia. That's one sad shrub! Totally agree, Carol! |
RE: Camellia?
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Acck! I promise not to do whatever they did to that poor plant!
I'm just now getting back to reading the additional messages. I don't know if this automatically bumps back to the top of the forum when new messages or added or what, but to answer some questions... This is the only camellia, as far as I can tell. It's by itself and it's in front of the porch, which is why I initially wanted to chop it down, and why I don't think it would be a good tree, although I'm trying to envision what rhizo's suggestion would look like. There are short shrubs in front of the left half of the porch and this tall camellia shrub/tree in front of the right half, so the house looks unbalanced and it blocks the view when you're sitting on the porch. I happened to also mention this to my mom, and she said you have to trim camellias by thirds (I guess cut no more than a third off the top) because they can't withstand a massive cutback. Any feedback on this? This kind of sounds like what bboy is saying. BTW, as I get organized I'll be back with more photos of shrubbery. There are some crazy overgrown plants in this yard. |
RE: Camellia?
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| I agree with your Mom, that's what I described above. That's how were were able to transform 10-foot tall shrubs at my Mom's house back into 5-6 feet tall. They didn't look butchered at any point during the process, which has taken a few years. They're beautiful this year, covered with buds. |
RE: Camellia?
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| carol, I remember noticing that poor camellia a year or two ago and wishing there was a way to sic the law on the perpetrator.... |
RE: Camellia?
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 23, 12 at 23:05
| They are very tolerant, you can cut a camellia off at any point and it will grow back. The tea plant, which is constantly picked from on plantations, is a camellia. |
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