Trimming/Prunning an Abelia, Edward Goucher?
Question:Spring of 2006 we planted an Abelia (See above) and now there are these Huge unruly branches shooting up from the middle and not even with the rest of the plants. I have read information on prunning ablelias however I am confused as to the timing. I live In Dallas Texas and currently the Temperatures are ranging from 75 deg in the am up to 90deg in the afternoon. Is it still safe to prune these plants or should I wait till next spring?
Basically when is the best time to prune an albelia in the North Texas Region?
Answers:
Hi:
I live in zone seven and you should prune your Abelia in late fall after their color has changed color. You can also wait til early spring. Abelias look great in the fall. With your mild winters, you could also prune in the winter months. They will be in their dormant stage. Always cut the branches at an angle. Never cut staight across as you could hurt the branch or leaves. Good luck to you and let me know if you need any other tips and information. Take a look at my website on landscape solutions.
A common scenario is for a homeowner to bring an abelia home from the nursery that has a nice curved/arching branch structure. It is planted. Next spring it sends up these wild, stretched-out over-achievers (the result of too much osmocote? or because of the training cuts?) that ruin its good looks. The unsuspecting novice cuts them off, only to find a greater upsurge of shoots occur as a result. Help!
SO, HOW DO YOU GET RID OF THOSE LONG SHOOTS? Well, you wait, maybe a couple of years. Eventually the plant sorts itself out. The only abelias I know that don't have any of those long, upshots are one's that nobody's been trying to keep small. One, in particular, that I have finally tamed with some judicious thinning and waiting, is currently seven feet tall. It looks great all the time and now needs very little pruning
ALWAYS PRUNE ABELIA WHILE DORMANT - early spring is ideal - right before it begins to leaf out.
Shearing should be avoided on abelias (or on anything, for that matter), that is not planted as a formal hedge or topiary. The main reason I hate shearing shrubbery is because of what happens next. Every place a cut is made, three shoots, wild and straight, leap up from the cut end. This is especially so on abelias. I call the long, arching branches, moon shots". Although shearing is fast, and a real no-brainer, it is self defeating. The newly stimulated regrowth quickly destroys the neat and tidy sheared look. And therefore, in the not-so-long run, it is more expensive than selective pruning. The more you shear, the more moon shots you get, which need to be re-sheared, leading to a greater number of shoots, and on, and on. One is locked into a constant battle, and the plants look like heck half the time anyway.
I favor GENERAL MAINTENANCE PRUNING which requires that you make your cuts deep inside the shrub, not out at the perimeter. This then is the great secret to pruning for size reduction. One searches the shrub for the longest, most unruly branch. Grabbing it with the left hand, the good pruner it to some place well inside, hopefully where it joins a side branch or to a bud. It is cut off at that point with the right hand pruners, and tossed out to the lawn.
Scan the perimeter once again. Avoid the temptation to cut the next closest branch. Seek out the very worst branch that sticks out too far. Cut it. The rule is: cut the worst, first. Repeat these steps until you begin to run out of green. Then quit, or perhaps quit a little before. Step outside of the shrub mass and you will find the plants are miraculously shorter and tidier, but natural looking. No matter when you do it, flower buds will remain on the unpruned branches, assuring you of blooms.
I know this is a lot of info - hope it helps though!
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