Suckers and branches, Leave 'em or cut 'em?

Surely, these questions have been asked and answered before, but I will ask anyway.

Many of you seem to cut away everything except the top branches. Is there a reason for this? Are the little suckers at the base of some Brugs similar to the suckers on a rose? Should they be cut, and what effect would this have on the rest of the plant? Is there a particular time of the year to cut these, or can they be cut anytime without damage to the mother plant? Is there a down side to leaving them on?

Two of my Brugs have some really large branches very close to the ground level. Should I cut them, or leave them?

I am sending a couple of pictures. Sorry they are so blurry, it was late and getting dark.

Sheral

Here is another shot.

And another.

I am so glad you have asked these questions. I have my first brugs (3) and am wondering the same. Can some one fill us total newbies in on what is considered best form wise. I am trying to grow mine in containers.

This message was edited May 3, 2006 10:13 PM

Suckers on Brugs are not the same as suckers on grafted roses. Brugs aren't grafted so all growth on the plant grows true.

Whether you prune or not, depends on whether you want a bushy plant or a standard. To get a standard, you need to start with a sucker and let it grow to the desired height before cutting it to root or you can start with a seedling since seedlings tend to grow straigher. Suckers that you want to turn into standards will grow faster if left on the mother plant. Cuttings taken from above the "Y" don't grow straight enough to make a good standard. From your photos, it looks like one of your suckers could be developed into a standard.

I like the bushy look, but have one Brug with a 7' sucker that I plan to turn into a standard. According to many DGers standards are easier to handle, especially, if they are in pots and you have to move them to overwinter them indoors. I had a tangle of branches when I put my pots in the greenhouse for the winter. It took me a while to arrange them in the greenhouse so branches wouldn't interfer with each other.

I leave mine, I like them bushy, and in my climate they would not have long enough to grow befor I have to cut them down, or dig them up.

Betty dee if i ever get to that stage lol.. thanks very good info. here..

There are exceptions....more than one person has had a sucker on a variegated plant that is totally green with differences in the flowers and I had a sucker from Whiskers that produced very light cream colored blooms. I sent a cutting from the Whiskers' sucker to a friend and hers was cream colored also.....Just when you think you have them figured out...something happens. Datdog was one who got a green sucker on her Maya. I grew it here one year and it bloomed darker than Maya did. Look at her thread here............ but don't drool on your keyboard. LOL!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/394690/