Does anyone cut theirs down to the ground each winter?. I have had this tree for 3 years and its about 5' tall, trunk about 11/1 ". Our aggie hort site says to cut it down to the ground each year for more blooms (blooms on new wood) and growth. Been trying to psch myself for a week, but it's hard to whack something down that you have grown that long. Any input would be appreciated, I am really struggling here.
Vitex tree cut down?
Whacking it down to the ground to get more blooms is rather drastic, especially if you want it to grow into a small tree or large shrub. If you want to keep it small, follow the tamu recommendation.
If your tree is still 5' tall after 3 years, then you must not be fertilizing it. Given light applications of a complete fertilizer, vitex will put out lots of new wood by the time it's ready to bloom late spring or early summer. Once it reaches it desired height and shape, you can winter prune for new growth and blooms. You can use any complete fertilizer.
Bettydee, after posting my question I went out and took a good look at the bottom of the trunk -surprise! 2 trees, they are crossed at very bottom of trunk. One leans against the other in a constrictive way. No wonder it didn't grow any taller - it couldn't. Now, I guess I should just dig it up and separate into 2 trees, hopefully it won't set them back too much. Thanks for the fertilizing tip, manure tea should do the trick?
A complete fertilizer, regardless of its origin, should have all the major nutrients as well as the micro-nutrients plants need. The nutrient content is manure tea will probably vary depending on the manure you use and its origin. Unless you are using a mix you bought. It should have a list of nutrients on the label. I know manure tea is high in nitrogen and may not be the best fertilizer to use on a transplant as you want to nurture and encourage root formation and for that you need the other nutrients, phosphate and potassium and the micro-nutrients. Plants can't tell where the fertilizer originated, but if you feel more comfortable, use a complete organic fertilizer. I've had good success with Osmocote or Miracle Grow.
Hey Rosy--we cut our Vitex to the ground....well really about to 5 to 6 inches--and we are always amazed at how tall and huge it gets every year. About 10 feet by 10 feet.
Bettydee , my manure tea has cow dung only, so it surely is not balanced. I googled organic MG, and there it was - did not know. So I will get that and and use your advice. I really wanted that tree to be a screen when I planted it, so you know after 3 years and still seeing the neighbors yard :( it was a disappointment and a mystery too. So glad I posted my question here.
Morganc - I will have two trees once separated I am going to experiment and "whack" one and let the other grow. 10' would be just great, what are you growing yours in?
I really like my Vitex and have treated it like a rose bush (pruning by more than a half in the late winter). By the end of summer it is a large, 10' tall shrub.
How do I prune it if I want to train it into more of a tree form. I have seen Vitex trees that have a single, large trunk---or is this a different variety?
This message was edited Jan 28, 2010 10:12 AM
Is the tree (instead of shrub form) easier to achieve in warmer zones like 9a/9b?
Vitex is hardy to zone 6 so it should be fine pruned as a tree. Since it does tend to be shruby, you may have to keep removing shoots emerging from the ground or low on the trunk. Choose the upward growing branch you want as the trunk and cut off all the others. Then cut the top off just below the level you want it to branch. Getting the basic tree form you want may take a few years. You can also do some summer pruning after its through blooming to help shape it and to encourage it to branch and fill in. Here's a site that may help. Follow the pruning suggestions for a crape myrtle.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/landscape/pruning/pruning.html
I had troubles getting the graphics on this following site, but they do appear on the downloadable PDF file. You can down load the file by clicking on the underlined words PDF just above the title.
http://www.pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/B961.htm
Thanks Bettydee, very helpful.
Rosy---Our Vitex is growing in normal so-so soil. We try to compost occasionally, but it's a big yard. Our soil is alkaline and rocky here in Hill Country.
My Vitex is about 10 ft tall and that wide as a shrub. I always trim mine after the freezes, leaving about three trunks on it to form a shrub then continue trimming throughout the season. Every year it grows that tall. Nothing seems to hurt it, just keeps on growing and blooming. With some of the limbs I trimmed, I rooted and made another nice shrub.
I have a vitex that I bought at the beginning of winter and it is still in the pot. I plan to transplant it out this spring. It is about 4 feet tall and has two main trunks. I like the shape with the two trunks and plan to keep them. I am wondering how much if any to prune them. I find it really hard to cut things back.
Suzie2, how did you root those cuttings? If I could root cuttings from the one I cut down, and they grow 10 ft a year - there is my screen! For some reason I was under the impression they were difficult to propagate.
I hope my question is not repetitious, I did not read all the postings. :(
Can I dig my Vitex up and replant it? its about three years old and about five feet. The trunk or the root section is huge and I want to move it because its too close to the house.
Sylvia
Move it while it is still dormant. Then prune. Feed it lightly with a complete fertilizer in the spring after it has had a chance to re-establish itself.
Thanks Betty! :)
Rosysunset....When I cut the branches into about 6 in. pieces, I dip them into a rooting hormone then place in potting soil making sure I get 2 branch nodes under the soil. I usually leave them in pots until they start growing leaves and are about 2 ft tall. After planting in its permanent area, I fertilize.
My tree is really needing to be trimmed but waiting until net month.
omg Suzie, I wish I could do that, but I would forget them.
My friend in Idaho told me I could root Poplar tree branches. They have been in a jar since this summer. ... the strangest this is they sprouted tiny leaves, but no roots. What's up with that? lol
Susie2 - just curious - what brand rooting hormone do you use? I bought some last summer but was not too impressed, think I should have waited for the Rootone which was sold out every where.
Sylvie - I have never heard of leaves and no roots !
I still haven't dug the tree up, the weather is just too wet and cold. Just a little warmer and I will be ready.
Rosy, I looked again, started to take a pic, but its dried up now. I had ordered about 12 of those popular and these were the branches that were broken off during transit, so it have been in the process of leafing out anyway.
DON'T WHACK IT TO THE GROUND! I followed that TAMU advice and killed the oldest of my vitex. It never came back. It put up a few little sprouts, but they only got about 2 inches tall and then withered. Here's a pic of my 2 year old plant. I've pruned it each year into an open vase form. It always has so many blooms that it actually stops traffic. I looked up last year to see a guy I didn't know taking a pic of it with his cell phone so his wife could see it. I went out and talked to him and wrote the name of it down for his wife. It's planted in unammended heavy clay soil and only gets a hanful of Ozmocote each spring.
Crow
awww Crow yours is beautiful! mine is about the same size, but its reaching out to the sun, because its planted to close to the house, Linda (Smockette) told me to prune it and it would bloom more. Lawdy I hope I dont ruin it transplanting, Linda will kill me , she gave it to me about two years ago.
Can't remember the brand of it right now, but, will go outside tomorrow and look for it. I just used it again today rooting hibiscus cuttings.
Crow---beautiful plant.
I think this year we'll try pruning ours differently.
Here's a pic of mine while it's "naked" so you can see the form, well, hopefully you can see it.
Wow....ours is only 6 inches high. Do all those branches then leaf out and bloom?
And if that is the case why is it TAMU says cut it down? Don't they like the trees?
Hmm turns out there are various articles written on Vitex on the aggie hort site, it looks like the primary reason for cutting it to the ground was to slow down growth - keep it from becoming a tree,
Also they mention an "older vitex" and new and improved strains. Which maybe explains the different growth rates. The older, original one has smaller flowers.
But Crow has the answer. What a spectacular sight! It makes me realize that I want a beautiful flowering tree not a huge privacy shrub. Thanks for sharing your pictures!
Well Morganc so much for whacking them down lol -this is a great site. I learn something new every single time I log on :)
Every one of those limbs leaf out and flower. Once the first flush of flowers is starting to fade, at the terminal end of each blooming tip, two shoots, one off each side of the old flower, form and these will also bloom. You can get almost non-stop blooms if you trim the spent blooms. I usually trim only once. After that, it's too darn hot to be out there whacking on the thing, but it keeps blooming even without trimming. The later blooms will be a bit smaller than first flush. It does grow fast, but I cut it back to about this size each winter. I've had no problems with pests, drought, floods, disease, etc. It's a reliable bloomer and trouble free. When it's in full bloom, it's spectacular and I love the astringent smell of the leaves.
On the older varities, there was one of these in a cemetery in Village Mills, Texas. I remember it from going there with my grandmother as a child to tend the family graves. A friend was with us once and took some of the seeds from the tree. My grandmother thought that was a terrible thing. She didn't think you should take anything from a cemetery. I don't know if the tree is still there, but it was huge and covered in blooms in the summer.
Crow
Crow, do you know the cultivar name of your vitex? It's gorgeous! I have 3 of the blue-violet vitex, but this year I plan to add the pink and the white ones. I used to have a variegated vitex. I had it in a pot, didn't have time to get it in the ground in the fall so I put it in the greenhouse for the winter. By spring, it had sent big roots out the drain holes. Even though I cut the top down, it died.
I have one in my backyard that came with the house. I was very excited last year when I learned that the berries were edible or could be used as a pepper substitute. Only later did I learn that they have an anti-libido effect on men. That is why they call it the Chaste tree. It is also supposed to have an effect on woman but they werent clear on what that was. Either way, pretty flowers and extremely drought tolerant.
And the deer leave it alone too! Perfect plant for our neck of the woods :-)
IBetty, 'm not sure the cultivar name of mine. I had looked everywhere for one called "Montrose Purple" but haven't been able to find it.
Jujube, where did you locate the pink one? I'd love one of those, but I've never seen them for sale. I did know about the male libido effect. It's also called "Monk's Pepper" for that same reason. I think for women, the supposed curative effect is helping with monthly cramps and bloating. I've never eaten any of it, so can't vouch for any of these statements.
Crow
Crow, Salinas Pink is the one to get. It is supposed to be the best pink. I just discovered it is a hard one to find. I have had success in locating it at 2 nurseries.
http://www.nurcar.com/order/html/orderingInfo.htm
http://www.rickscustomnursery.com/treesshrubs.htm
The second nursery doesn't mail west of the Mississippi unless you are willing to pay the extra fees
Nope. I just have the blue.
." Only later did I learn that they have an anti-libido effect on men. That is why they call it the Chaste tree."
Now you tell me. lol J/k
I think my wife is slipping them into dinner. That has to be it.
Crow, I found a source for Vitex 'Montrose Purple' and another pink Vitex.
http://www.nichegardens.com/catalog/list.php?type=tree
rosysunset....................
Rooting hormone is Green Light Rooting Hormone. This has always worked for me.
Thanks Susie2, I will give it a try on these cuttings (whenever it warms up enough!) I am pretty excited about this and just walked through the yard and saw several more trees I could propagate this way.