How to trim loropetalum shrubs is important as you are aiming to keep your plant in shape. We provide a step-by-step guide to teach you how to easily trim your plant to remain in your desired shape and give your yard a healthy and stunning specimen plant.
We also include other information about maintaining your loropetalum that you might need to know.
Contents
How to Trim Loropetalum Shrubs in Simple Steps?
To trim loropetalum shrubs in simple steps, you should first prepare the tools that are needed, pick the right time for the process, determine the trimming goal, and inspect the shrub thoroughly. After this, start trimming, aim for rejuvenation trimming, give it the right shape, and lastly, provider care.
Loropetalum is one of the easy-to-care-for shrubs that require little maintenance; however, since it is also a popular landscaping plant, pruning is required to give it shape and form for a more eye-catching and attractive landscape. Make sure that you are detailed with every step of the way as you are pruning loropetalum and keep your plant looking compact and neat.
1. Prepare the Tools Needed
To trim your loropetalum, you will need to prepare a clean, sharp pruning tool, such as pruning shears, loppers, a bypass hand pruner, or the right pruning saw, as this would depend on the thickness of the branches you need to cut. Sharp and clean pruning tools will help you to make clean cuts and avoid damaging your plant.
You will also need to prepare isopropyl alcohol or a ten percent bleach solution. Dip the pruning tool in isopropyl alcohol or bleach after each cut to prevent the possible spreading of the diseases that the plant may be effeected to other parts of the plant.
2. Pick the Right Timing
Summer and spring are the best times to go ahead and trim your shrub. During summer, your loropetalum has finished blooming. You can now reduce the number of blooms your plant produces as compared to the previous season to keep its shape and form.
You should not try to trim your loropetalum during the fall season. Wait for late spring to early summer to trim your plant. This is the best time to do pruning because new growth will soon begin to grow.
During this time, you can remove any damaged and diseased branches while cutting your plant to your desired shape without destroying the approaching season’s blooms. Also, pruning in the fall can stimulate new growth vulnerable to frost damage.
When it comes to pruning, timing is everything. Doing it at the right time can make a big difference in your plant’s bloom. The best time to prune or trim your loropetalum is in late spring to early summer or as soon as you notice your plant has finished flowering. By this time, it has produced new growth and blooms, and of course, it has reached a larger size, which is why you must consider then.
3. Determine The Trimming Goals
Loropetalum is one of the multi-stem shrubs that tolerate rejuvenation pruning. Also, it produces the best results because new stems will grow with much brighter colors, a smaller plant can produce flowers abundantly, and it becomes easier to control with maintained regular thinning. In totality, rejuvenating improves the shrub’s overall health and appearance.
For this you should make sure that you decide with what you are going for, and what your goal in this part is. Although loropetalum responds well to severe or heavy pruning, it is best not to trim or even prune more than one-third of the loropetalum’s total size in a single pruning session; hence, the goal that you set is important. This can stress your plant and affect its overall health. So, make sure to do so, only one-quarter to one-third of the shrub at a time.
Given that it would grow back easily and will return to its full shape again, be patient until you achieve the desired form. Remember that you could always perform additional cuts later if needed. This way, you can reduce the number of new blooms and new growth it produces during the blooming season to achieve your desired size. Furthermore, if you want to avoid the hassle of pruning from time to time, you can opt to find and grow a variety of loropetalum that will fit your location and would need infrequent trimming.
4. Inspect the Shrub
Next, you need to inspect your shrub. Look for diseased, strayed, and unruly branches; you may trim them back up to the main stem of the pant using clean and sharpened shears or hedge shears. Also, look for branches that are growing inward towards the center of the plant. You also need to remove them from the main stem or branch to make it look fresh.
5. Start Trimming
After you finish trimming dead or strayed branches, it is time to start shaping your shrub according to your preference. There are different ways how you can prune loropetalum: annual shaping, selective pruning, formal shapes and hedges, and tree forming.
Annual shaping is performed in late winter or early spring, and so you can try to clear up your shrub lightly just to keep its shape. Cut the branches that go beyond the original shape and form of the shrub. Meanwhile, selective pruning means removing broken or dead branches selectively. Remove those branches completely from the main branch using pruning shears.
Light trimming or shearing can be performed at almost any time of the year. However, to prevent new growth susceptible to frost damage, delay pruning up to two months before the average first frost in your location.
If you decide on a more compact and uniform shape for your loropetalum, you can opt to choose a formal shape and hedge and cut using an electric hedge trimmer or hedge shears. You can also aim to prune for different shapes like a globe, pyramid, square, and many more.
The purple diamond loropetalum is an ideal candidate for a pom-pom shape, pyramid, poodle tier, and more shapes. However, you must always remember that you can only do a formal shape and hedge two to three times a year because your plant might weaken due to the stress caused by forcing it to release energy to reproduce new growth continuously.
6. Aim for Rejuvenating
To do rejuvenation pruning, you will need a saw, loppers, or hand clippers, depending on the size of the branches that you need to cut. Hand clippers can cut branches up to three-quarters of an inch in size. Loppers can handle up to two inches; for larger branches, use a pruning saw.
Make sure that all the tools you will use are sharp for a cleaner cut and to avoid damaging your shrub. Next, inspect your shrub and look for mulch, irrigation lines, or weed barrier fabric and remove those, so they won’t disturb the new growth that will emerge or the cuts you are going to make.
Once you are done, you can start cutting off the branches at the base or their growth point without damaging the bark. Make sure to leave at least six to 12 inches of the plant’s stem. By removing the branches of a shrub from its base, the mature base will respond by bringing out young and new branches, which will start a new cycle of healthy growth.
When you have an unhealthy, overgrown, woody, or leggy loropetalum, consider doing rejuvenation pruning. On the other hand, when your shrub is healthy but looks too crowded with branches or dead twigs, does not flower as profusely as before, or has lost its usual form or structure, do this extreme pruning technique to rejuvenate your plant’s health and allow it to continue to flourish.
7. Give it Some Shape
Given that there are loropetalums that reach six feet tall or higher, you can form them into a small tree with single or multiple trunks, depending on your preference. To do this, you will need to cut the lower branches of the shrub.
You will also need to decide how many trunks you want for your tree. You can remove some or keep all of them. If you want to remove a trunk, cut it off one-quarter of inches above the ground or from its origin. After you remove unwanted trunks, you can start to establish the tree and this way, it would look much neater and simpler.
Using a sharp and clean bypass hand pruner or pruning saw, cut lateral branches that are growing from the trunk placed lowest to the ground. Keep in mind that you should cut the branch as close to the trunk as possible, but avoid cutting into the bark. Also, make sure not to cut a branch that would spoil the shape of the canopy.
After that, take a step back and observe the plant’s overall shape. Continue cutting lower branches and working your way upward until you are satisfied with its appearance. In short, as you aim to maintain its form and shape in the future, you can cut off unwanted branches growing from the base as your tree grows to maintain the proportion of the trunk to the canopy.
8. Give it the Right Care
After pruning your shrub, you should help it recover from the stress it underwent from cutting and trimming. Provide nutrients using a 10-10-10 fertilizer. Make sure to read the label, and follow the instructions written on the package for the correct application, because now the plant is not in its perfect health rather than giving it stress with the feeding.
Keep the soil moist but not waterlogged, because this would be a messy situation in the long run. You can also help retain the humidity that is in the soil as you would add a layer of mulch; for this, you can choose some shredded leaves and wood chips, around the base of your shrub. Also, observe pests and diseases that might cause problems for your recovering plant.
After you finish the process of pruning, focus on nourishing your plant. Add a layer of compost, and make sure it receives plenty of water as it recovers. Also, look for any signs of pests and diseases, as your plant is more susceptible, and avoid using synthetic fertilizer.
Conclusion
Pruning loropetalum is a very simple and easy task that you can do to maintain the shape of your plant, so here are some key takeaways:
- Prune only in the late spring to early summer after the blooming season, so doing this right at the right time will leave you a flourishing, attractive, and healthy shrub.
- Always use clean and sharp pruning shears to avoid damaging the plant.
- Make sure to always prune at most one-third of the size of the plant.
- Rejuvenation pruning is needed when your shrub becomes old, unhealthy, or overgrown.
A well-maintained shrub is a healthy and thriving plant. We hope we shared additional knowledge and helped you learn how to maintain your plants through pruning properly.
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