Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Should my 6 year old Brugs be cut back, 0 by bettydee

bettydee wrote:
Kathy,

Please post a photo of the entire plant after you pruned it for comparison. Did you remove any of the large old roots?...damaged roots?

Pruning the top: Did you remove any branches that rubbed together, the thin and the weak ones? Somewhere up above, you mentioned you loved Brugs grown as a standard. You might consider cutting off a few of the larger branches that tend to arch outward leaving 2 - 4 of the straighter trunks. This will encourage the growth of new shoots from below the soil. These are called basal or vegetative shoots. They are the ones to used when you want to grow a one trunk standard because they grow very straight until they produce their first "Y". Then you cut and root these straight shoots. Eventually you get a Brugs that has this form:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/99813/
The enclosed photo is of my Mom's Dr. Seuss. One plant. One trunk. The fence in the background is 7' tall. Of course it helps that it was grown in the ground for several years — no freezing weather. I grow my in pots. So they don't get as large.

It looks like most of that Brug probably originated from a cutting taken above the "Y". The word Peach refers to the color of the flowers. There is no way to ID it any further. Many of the old Brugs were identified just by color.