On Sat, 04 Jan 2003 22:54:53 GMT, jim evans
wrote:


Now my reason for posting . . .

Our experience was so rewarding we have some pittosporum, Japanese holly,
boxwood and camilla that we'd like to cut back a lot too. In this case we might
cut them back by half, but not back to stumps like we did the ligustrums.

Can we safely cut these plants back so radically?

jim
It's likely that no bush will be as able to bounce back as well as
ligustrum, but most can tolerate teh severe pruning you describe. I'm
more familiar with some of the plants mentioned than others, so come
back for others' answres, but here are my guesses:
Boxwood and pittosporum can take almost anything you do to them. The
holly I'm not familiar with, but it can also take a good chopping, I
imagine. I'm used to treating camellias with kid gloves, but in
Austin our soil is too alkaline for them to be really happy, so they
may be pretty tough in Houston. Someone else will have a better
answer on this one, for sure.

Rules of thumb:
prune branches back to just beyond a bud or shoot that points in a
favorable direction, not to a random stub somewhere.
Do this severe work during dormancy (e.g., now) so they will not lose
as much energy in the growing tips. Later, more gentler pruning may
be done in the growing season.
Make sure they have been watered recently when you attack, so they
won't be under stress before you start (not a big problem in Houston,
I know).

good luck
keith
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