Hi! I am hoping someone has some advice on pruning brugs. First of all, when is the best time to prune? Second, any advice on how to prune? Is it the same general rule as pruning fruit trees? I have a CG that is about 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide and I would like to prune it so that it is easier to get through the front door when spring comes. Any advice and/or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
LD :)
Pruning a HUGE CG Brug
Hi. Someone may have already written to you, but here goes anyway. I would wait until you are ready to take your plant outside and trim it back to get it out the door easily, but never below six nodes above the main stalk's Y's. If you can leave more, you will have more blooms, naturally. Put it in some morning sun for a while until it has adjusted to being outside and then you can give it more sun, but CG really doesn't like to be hot, hot. I feed my brugs twice a week with 20-20-20 or 15-5-15. They just blow my mine with their beauty and fragrance. If it has been potted up for a couple of years, it would probably be a good idea to take it out of the pot, cut off one third of the roots and pull out some of the old soil, and then re-pot it. Should make a great display for you this summer.
I'm sorry, I just had to write to you, but I just don't post on the brug forum much anymore. I wasn't seeing any posts and didn't want you thinking you were being ignored.
Good Luck with you CG. I'd love to see pictures when she blooms.
Shirley
This message was edited Mar 14, 2006 10:34 AM
Brugie, I'm glad Larry asked about pruning because I've been wondering about pruning, too. Now, you have me curious, what happens to the branch if it is cut below six nodes?
As for moving them outside... I bind mine into a more compact form with clear packing tape.. it's a two person job.. one to gather the limbs into a smaller diamanter .. and the other to help bind this smaller format with the tape... otherwie I'd be gardening with everything in minature.. and never have those 200 bloom flushes... . Gordon
Betty, those nodes are going to produce the next branches and if you remove most of them, there will be less branches and fullness and in the end, less blooms. I cut one back to the Y when I was first starting and what a disappointment. I had to wait for a whole new trunk to grow and that plant made 10 foot that year. Still pretty, but it took a long time.
Thanks for the info, Brugie. I'm glad I haven't cut into them yet.
Thanks for all the great advice! I am so excited to see Charles bloom this summer. He actually has two blossoms right now--keeps me wanting more :).
LD
It's wonderful being able to search for things! I have a CG in its second winter (in my possession). Potted up, on the deck. Last year we had at least one good hard freeze and I had to cut back quite a bit. This year, so far, the temps have been warm enough that I may not lose any trunk health. However it's getting pretty darn tall and wide! Brugies pruning directions seem pretty darn good. Guess I'll wait a big longer and "go for it". She (I call her Charlene Grimaldi LOL) has one lone bloom up at the top right now, and she produced some pods for me. I'm lovingly germinating (hopefully) her seeds! I'm also going to try to re-pot her in a larger pot this spring. Can't wait!!! :o)
Sanna