Hello. Sorry, to ask another question so soon!

I have a young camellia sinensis, which recently grew a new leaf and has some buds. I was wondering how to prune it to make grow bushier. I am new to gardening, so this will be my first time pruning.

I have attached some pictures, incase they help. Sorry about the poor quality!

On 5/26/12 6:34 AM, BlackThumb wrote:
Hello. Sorry, to ask another question so soon!

I have a young camellia sinensis, which recently grew a new leaf and has
some buds. I was wondering how to prune it to make grow bushier. I am
new to gardening, so this will be my first time pruning.

I have attached some pictures, incase they help. Sorry about the poor
quality!


Camellias should be pruned shortly after flowering. Although evergreen,
camellias do go dormant in that they stop growing in the fall and
winter; but that is when they flower (C. sinensis in the fall).

To make a camellia more bushy, cut a stem just below the scar for the
past year's growth. That is, early in 2012, you remove the growth from
2011, cutting just below the joint between 2011 and 2010. If you merely
head the latest growth, you will normally get only one new shoot. If
you remove the entire latest growth, several buds from the prior year
should all send out shoots.

Feed LIGHTLY after pruning. Camellias do best with a relatively lean
soil. They also want an acidic soil that is always moist but never wet;
thus, they require perfect drainage.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Thank you very much. I'm not quite sure what you mean by the 'scar of the past year's growth' though. Also, i haven't had the plant for a year, so am not sure how old each stem is. All Ive seen it do is grow bud into a leaf.

On 5/26/12 3:18 PM, BlackThumb wrote:
'David E. Ross[_2_ Wrote:
;959742']On 5/26/12 6:34 AM, BlackThumb wrote:-
Hello. Sorry, to ask another question so soon!

I have a young camellia sinensis, which recently grew a new leaf and
has
some buds. I was wondering how to prune it to make grow bushier. I am
new to gardening, so this will be my first time pruning.

I have attached some pictures, incase they help. Sorry about the poor
quality!
-

Camellias should be pruned shortly after flowering. Although
evergreen,
camellias do go dormant in that they stop growing in the fall and
winter; but that is when they flower (C. sinensis in the fall).

To make a camellia more bushy, cut a stem just below the scar for the
past year's growth. That is, early in 2012, you remove the growth from
2011, cutting just below the joint between 2011 and 2010. If you
merely
head the latest growth, you will normally get only one new shoot. If
you remove the entire latest growth, several buds from the prior year
should all send out shoots.

Feed LIGHTLY after pruning. Camellias do best with a relatively lean
soil. They also want an acidic soil that is always moist but never
wet;
thus, they require perfect drainage.


Thank you very much. I'm not quite sure what you mean by the 'scar of
the past year's growth' though. Also, i haven't had the plant for a
year, so am not sure how old each stem is. All Ive seen it do is grow
bud into a leaf.



Let it grow without pruning for a year. Next year, you will see a
sightly thick spot on the stem between this year's growth and the growth
that existed when you bought the plant. The thick spot might be as long
as 1/8 inch or less and have very small rings and grooves. That is the
scar. When pruning next year, you remove this year's growth including
that scar.

NOTE WELL: Camellias do not need to be pruned every year. They don't
need to be pruned at all except to remove dead or broken growth. I only
prune mine when they begin to grow above my dining room window sill.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Thank you, David. That was a good explanation. I wanted to start pruning to make it bushier for producing more tea leaves. I'm assuming what you said would do this?

On 5/27/12 6:56 PM, BlackThumb wrote:
'David E. Ross[_2_ Wrote:
;959804']On 5/26/12 3:18 PM, BlackThumb wrote:-
'David E. Ross[_2_ Wrote: -
;959742']On 5/26/12 6:34 AM, BlackThumb wrote:-
Hello. Sorry, to ask another question so soon!

I have a young camellia sinensis, which recently grew a new leaf and
has
some buds. I was wondering how to prune it to make grow bushier. I am
new to gardening, so this will be my first time pruning.

I have attached some pictures, incase they help. Sorry about the poor
quality!
-

Camellias should be pruned shortly after flowering. Although
evergreen,
camellias do go dormant in that they stop growing in the fall and
winter; but that is when they flower (C. sinensis in the fall).

To make a camellia more bushy, cut a stem just below the scar for the
past year's growth. That is, early in 2012, you remove the growth
from
2011, cutting just below the joint between 2011 and 2010. If you
merely
head the latest growth, you will normally get only one new shoot. If
you remove the entire latest growth, several buds from the prior year
should all send out shoots.

Feed LIGHTLY after pruning. Camellias do best with a relatively lean
soil. They also want an acidic soil that is always moist but never
wet;
thus, they require perfect drainage.
-

Thank you very much. I'm not quite sure what you mean by the 'scar of
the past year's growth' though. Also, i haven't had the plant for a
year, so am not sure how old each stem is. All Ive seen it do is grow
bud into a leaf.

-

Let it grow without pruning for a year. Next year, you will see a
sightly thick spot on the stem between this year's growth and the
growth
that existed when you bought the plant. The thick spot might be as
long
as 1/8 inch or less and have very small rings and grooves. That is the
scar. When pruning next year, you remove this year's growth including
that scar.

NOTE WELL: Camellias do not need to be pruned every year. They don't
need to be pruned at all except to remove dead or broken growth. I
only
prune mine when they begin to grow above my dining room window sill.


Thank you, David. That was a good explanation. I wanted to start pruning
to make it bushier for producing more tea leaves. I'm assuming what you
said would do this?

Yes. Although grown for its leaves (the source of tea), C. sinensis
should still flower. Pruning is then timed according to when flowering
is done.

Other than the removal of dead and broken growth, pruning is done only
to make the plant more bushy. It will thrive and flower -- or, in your
case, produce new leaves -- without pruning. However, it will become
lanky and not bushy. Bushiness requires pruning to force multiple
shoots. Heading last year's growth will only force a single shoot.
Multiple shoots are forced when last year's growth is removed entirely.
This will not work repeatedly for annual pruning because the new shoots
are then from two-year-old wood. You must allow the multiple shoots to
grow for at least two years before pruning again.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Thank you very much. That was just the information I needed. How did you learn this though? I have been searching online, but could not find the correct information.

On 5/28/12 12:32 PM, BlackThumb wrote:
'David E. Ross[_2_ Wrote:
;959854']On 5/27/12 6:56 PM, BlackThumb wrote:-
'David E. Ross[_2_ Wrote: -
;959804']On 5/26/12 3:18 PM, BlackThumb wrote:-
'David E. Ross[_2_ Wrote: -
;959742']On 5/26/12 6:34 AM, BlackThumb wrote:-
Hello. Sorry, to ask another question so soon!

I have a young camellia sinensis, which recently grew a new leaf and
has
some buds. I was wondering how to prune it to make grow bushier. I am
new to gardening, so this will be my first time pruning.

I have attached some pictures, incase they help. Sorry about the poor
quality!
-

Camellias should be pruned shortly after flowering. Although
evergreen,
camellias do go dormant in that they stop growing in the fall and
winter; but that is when they flower (C. sinensis in the fall).

To make a camellia more bushy, cut a stem just below the scar for the
past year's growth. That is, early in 2012, you remove the growth
from
2011, cutting just below the joint between 2011 and 2010. If you
merely
head the latest growth, you will normally get only one new shoot. If
you remove the entire latest growth, several buds from the prior year
should all send out shoots.

Feed LIGHTLY after pruning. Camellias do best with a relatively lean
soil. They also want an acidic soil that is always moist but never
wet;
thus, they require perfect drainage.
-

Thank you very much. I'm not quite sure what you mean by the 'scar of
the past year's growth' though. Also, i haven't had the plant for a
year, so am not sure how old each stem is. All Ive seen it do is grow
bud into a leaf.

-

Let it grow without pruning for a year. Next year, you will see a
sightly thick spot on the stem between this year's growth and the
growth
that existed when you bought the plant. The thick spot might be as
long
as 1/8 inch or less and have very small rings and grooves. That is
the
scar. When pruning next year, you remove this year's growth including
that scar.

NOTE WELL: Camellias do not need to be pruned every year. They don't
need to be pruned at all except to remove dead or broken growth. I
only
prune mine when they begin to grow above my dining room window sill.
-

Thank you, David. That was a good explanation. I wanted to start
pruning
to make it bushier for producing more tea leaves. I'm assuming what
you
said would do this?-

Yes. Although grown for its leaves (the source of tea), C. sinensis
should still flower. Pruning is then timed according to when flowering
is done.

Other than the removal of dead and broken growth, pruning is done only
to make the plant more bushy. It will thrive and flower -- or, in your
case, produce new leaves -- without pruning. However, it will become
lanky and not bushy. Bushiness requires pruning to force multiple
shoots. Heading last year's growth will only force a single shoot.
Multiple shoots are forced when last year's growth is removed entirely.
This will not work repeatedly for annual pruning because the new
shoots
are then from two-year-old wood. You must allow the multiple shoots to
grow for at least two years before pruning again.


Thank you very much. That was just the information I needed. How did you
learn this though? I have been searching online, but could not find the
correct information.


Here in the U.S., Sunset Books publishes a number of specialied
gardening books. Among those that I have, one of them is about camellias.

I have a camellia bed (only four plants) that I first planted about 38
years ago. Two of the plants are from then; a third is almost as old.
The bed is edged with azaleas under which I have candytuft (Iberis
sempervirens).

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On May 26, 10:06*am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 5/26/12 6:34 AM, BlackThumb wrote:

Hello. Sorry, to ask another question so soon!

I have a young camellia sinensis, which recently grew a new leaf and has
some buds. I was wondering how to prune it to make grow bushier. I am
new to gardening, so this will be my first time pruning.

I have attached some pictures, incase they help. Sorry about the poor
quality!

Camellias should be pruned shortly after flowering. *Although evergreen,
camellias do go dormant in that they stop growing in the fall and
winter; but that is when they flower (C. sinensis in the fall).

To make a camellia more bushy, cut a stem just below the scar for the
past year's growth. *That is, early in 2012, you remove the growth from
2011, cutting just below the joint between 2011 and 2010. *If you merely
head the latest growth, you will normally get only one new shoot. *If
you remove the entire latest growth, several buds from the prior year
should all send out shoots.

Feed LIGHTLY after pruning. *Camellias do best with a relatively lean
soil. *They also want an acidic soil that is always moist but never wet;
thus, they require perfect drainage.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: *California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Could you post a picture illustrating this method? I don't think I
can find the right joints.

TIA

HB

On 5/30/12 5:13 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On May 26, 10:06 am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 5/26/12 6:34 AM, BlackThumb wrote:

Hello. Sorry, to ask another question so soon!

I have a young camellia sinensis, which recently grew a new leaf and has
some buds. I was wondering how to prune it to make grow bushier. I am
new to gardening, so this will be my first time pruning.

I have attached some pictures, incase they help. Sorry about the poor
quality!

Camellias should be pruned shortly after flowering. Although evergreen,
camellias do go dormant in that they stop growing in the fall and
winter; but that is when they flower (C. sinensis in the fall).

To make a camellia more bushy, cut a stem just below the scar for the
past year's growth. That is, early in 2012, you remove the growth from
2011, cutting just below the joint between 2011 and 2010. If you merely
head the latest growth, you will normally get only one new shoot. If
you remove the entire latest growth, several buds from the prior year
should all send out shoots.

Feed LIGHTLY after pruning. Camellias do best with a relatively lean
soil. They also want an acidic soil that is always moist but never wet;
thus, they require perfect drainage.


Could you post a picture illustrating this method? I don't think I
can find the right joints.


See http://www.rossde.com/garden/pruneCamellia.jpg. In the middle,
there is a thin yellow circle around the scar between last year's growth
and the year before. A pencil is pointing to where the cut should be
made according to Sunset's "How to Grow and Use Camellias" (Lane Books,
1968). This is above the scar, but I generally cut just below the scar.

Remember, pruning is done just as flowering ends. Camellias flower when
they are dormant -- not leafless but not actively growing -- from late
fall until very early spring. Thus, the branch above the scar is from
the prior year's growing season; and the branch below the scar is from
the growing season of the year before that.

I plan to remove the image in about a week.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary