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Old 12-05-2003, 08:33 AM
Paul Kelly
 
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Default Hard pruning Ceanothus


"Barry Watts" wrote in message
...
I have a large and beautiful Ceanothus which I believe to be Ceanothus
thyrsiflora, Blue Blossom. It is about 6' tall x 10' wide. It's huge!

Its
also lovely this time of year - you can hardly see the greenery for its
intense blue flowers. Trouble is, it is slowly pushing down a fence and
covering a path. I'd like to take it right back and promote some new,
smaller and easily controlled growth.

Any tips on hard-pruning a mature but healthy Ceanothus?



Ceanothus are temperamental and unpredictable. Wave a pair of secateurs next
to one and it will keel over before you can mutter "light trim". Take a
chain saw to another and it will laugh at you.

I generally advise light trimming to keep to size and avoid getting too
large, if it has got too large then little is lost by risking a hard prune.

pk