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Sun, Jul 15, 12 at 18:45
| My oleanders have always been whacked with a hedge trimmer by the gardeners, they look like boxes, never has any blooms as the shrub is always trimmed. How do I prune it back so that it has a more natural look and get away from the consolidated hedge look? My thought was to start clipping branches from underneath the shaped canopy, closer to the main stalk. These bushes have always been kept about 4 feet tall. The same for my camelias. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 15, 12 at 19:52
| Oleanders are usually loose, mounding shrubs that can reach 10'x10'. No wonder yours do not bloom! Unfortunately, the unnaturally shaped 'box or ball' pruning regime is not a fast one to recover from. If pruned into a box or with squared-off edges, you might want to soften the look by slightly rounding them off. Otherwise it is just a matter of time. Eventually the shrub will begin to assume a more natural form. Removing any lower or interior branches is not going to assist with this although it could improve air circulation, which may encourage more rapid growth. All the same true for the camellias, although they can get even larger and are often trained/pruned into a tree-like form. But not a 4' box! Just say NO to the 'gardeners' with hedge trimmers :-) |
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| Those are ignorant gardeners. I'd fire them if they butchered my oleander that way. I've visited Mexico a couple of times and they even prune street trees to look like boxes. It's okay in Mexico, but isn't useful for a lot of plants we grow here. It's the same here where I am. They think everything needs to look like a cube. I'm sorry you've had your plants whacked like that. Gardengal is right, don't let anyone cut either again, and they will eventually bush out again and bloom for you. |
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- Posted by buyorsell888 Zone 8 Portland OR (My Page) on Sun, Jul 22, 12 at 15:41
| Sadly the gardeners and lawn crews all over the Southwest do this to everything. They butcher every shrub and tree into balls and boxes. Much of the time the homeowner/property managers like it. To me it has always seemed awful. Topiaries are great, shrubs pruned just to keep the crews busy are not. |
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