Pruning Large Camellias
Atlantic Coast Camellia Society
Atlantic Coast Camellias, Vol. 47, #1
Spring 2000
Reprinted with Permission
The pruning of garden camellias is an art form applying certain techniques that conform to principles based on their growth habits. This article will briefly answer three basic questions on pruning: Why, When, and How.
Why?
A camellia, particularly Camellia japonica, produces an abundance of new growth that competes for all available light. As the tree continues growing outward and upward, it crowds itself with numerous interior branches growing in many directions, crossing over each other in the scramble of growth toward light. In older, unpruned camellias, many of these interior branches are dead inside, leaving an outside shell of leaves and twigs.
Upon parting the branches of a densely growing camellia, one sees a beautiful (or potentially beautiful) infrastructure. The trunk and branches are smooth and muscular. In fact, camellia wood is very strong and dense, supporting the adventurous pruner who climbs the tree to prune from within.
The following are brief reasons for pruning older untouched camellias:
- To prune away all dead branches and twigs.
- To prune away all interfering or crossing branches that rub against each other.
- To allow light and air to circulate within and throughout the tree.
- To partially expose the inner branching structure, or infrastructure, of the camellia.
- To change the shape of a camellia previously pruned as a globe, ball, lollipop, square or rectangle into a more natural shape.
- To make a hedge (more on this below).
- To reduce from a ‘tree-like’ height to a ‘shrub-like’ height (i.e., a camellia originally planted as a foundation plant increases in size over the years and covers over windows).
- To bring the plant in scale with its surroundings by reducing the height (i.e., interference with overhead structures and trees or disproportion of camellias to height of the house), or by reducing the width (i.e., the camellia is interfering with plants next to it).
- To espalier (to train camellias on a fence, up a lath or lattice structure).
Special Shaping Techniques
In reference to #6, certain cultivars of camellias with habits for dense or compact growth are ideal for hedges. At the time of purchase, select plants with multiple branching close to the base of the plant. This will create a hedge full from the base upward. If you are trying to ‘rejuvenate’ an old straggly hedge, the best possible course is to cut the old hedge as far back as you can. Camellias invariably will send out new sprouts at the base, but it is important to prune back hard.
In reference to #9, some camellia cultivars, like Camellia japonica ‘Tulip Time,’ lend themselves well to espalier. These cultivars are elongated between the nodes (swollen areas on the stems that are growth points) and consequently are easier to tie and train on trellis, lattice, or lath structures. They have loose growth and pruning is minimal compared to cultivars that are vigorous and have a tight, compact growth habit.
Ann Richardson is curator of the Camellia Collection at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Photo by Donald Rogers.
When?
Camellias can be pruned any time of the year, but it is best accomplished immediately after flowering and before commencing vegetative growth. In southern California, the general rule of thumb is to prune in March for early flowering camellias, like Camellia sasanqua, April for most Camellia japonica plants, and May for Camellia reticulata.
Pruning camellias after they have firmly set their flower buds but well before they bloom will produce fewer but astonishingly larger flowers, looking as if gibbed. At the Huntington Botanical Gardens, where pruning goes on year-round because of the large number of camellias maintained, those pruned September/October have produced this result.
How?
Camellias usually have a vantage point or a ‘front’ where they are seen most frequently; for example, along a walkway or from a patio. Although camellias need to be viewed from all sides (except those that are planted next to a fence or house) during the pruning process, it is important to make the final pruning decision from the vantage point most viewed. It is important to step away from your work frequently, to look at the tree from a distance and from all viewing angles.
A lot of pruning time (perhaps half) is spent ‘inside’ the tree, cutting out suckers, dead or injured branches, interfering or crossing branches. Often, in a large tree, it is advantageous to climb up inside it; the wood being very strong, it can support a lot of weight. Broken limbs and branches on camellias occur not from weight of heavy flowers or strong winds but from fallen branches of canopy trees.
Three tools are required for pruning large camellias. The first is a quality pair of hand shears, with a scissors-type action (as opposed to the anvil type). These pruning shears will cut up to ¾″ diameter branches. Loppers, those with long handles, are good for leverage, for branches with up to 1–1½″ diameter, and for reaching those hard-to-get areas in the tree. The third tool, a pruning saw with a curved and narrow blade, recommended for its ease in fitting into narrow spaces, can prune branches 3″ or more in diameter.
Some Rules of Thumb:
- Never leave stubs. They are unsightly, and can invite decay and insect damage if left for long periods of time.
- Prune at an angle so that water will run off, allow thorough drying, and help prevent decay from setting in.
- There are three places to prune. Pruning anywhere else will leave a stub.
- A. Next to the trunk.
- B. Immediately above a side branch.
- C. Immediately above a bud or node.
- Generally, cuts should be made just above an outward-pointing bud or shoot so that the resulting growth will be heading outward. The object is to avoid any future growth to head toward the center of the tree. If you cut next to a bud or shoot that is heading upward or downward, the new shoot or branch will go in that direction. This kind of controlled pruning will force a tree to be narrow or weeping. Camellias will take on the form you give them by selectively pruning in this manner, except for some cultivars that tend to have haphazard growth habits, in which case annual pruning is necessary to keep them in control. Camellia reticulata plants, with haphazard and loose branching habits, do not take easily to heavy pruning which promotes die-back. Therefore, prune only those branches that grow beyond the natural form of the plant.
- Camellias produce multiple leaders more often than a single leader. A camellia with multiple leaders arising near the base of the plant creates a shrub-like appearance and can be kept short as a foundation plant almost indefinitely with annual pruning.
- For a more tree-like effect, prune away all but one to three leaders. All branches laterally crossing over and rubbing the leaders should be pruned out.
Step by Step Procedure:
- Prune out all dead and broken branches first.
- Remove all suckers growing at the base of the tree.
- Prune out unnecessary suckers heading directly upward along the trunk.
- Select central leader(s) that will form the basic framework of the tree and remove the rest. Camellias tend to overproduce many leaders or trunks which create a chaotic number of branches in the interior.
- Prune out any branch that is crossing, rubbing or interfering with the central leaders and principal lateral branches.
- Remove ‘watersprouts’ which camellias produce on the tops of lateral branches. These sprouts rob the camellia of clear spacing between branches and clutter the center of the tree. By pruning them away, the central leader(s) and the interior branching patterns can be viewed and more air allowed to circulate through the tree.
- Remove all but one or two branches growing out from the same point along the trunk. Ideally, branches should be spaced alternately up the central leader producing a three dimensional effect. Many branches in one place creates congestion and a lot of pressure on the trunk. Leave one or possibly two branches, depending on the number and spacing of lateral branches above and below this point.
- Remove branches that grow too closely parallel up the sides of the trunk. Branches tend to grow too closely spaced one over the other. Choose a lateral branch growing at a 90 degree angle out from the trunk over one that is growing at a narrower angle. Cut excess branches close to the trunk. Don’t leave stubs.
- After the tree is thinned, it may look out of proportion and will need to be ‘headed back’ (it may look wider than tall, or taller than wide). To narrow the tree, prune back the ends of the lateral branches to a growing point (i.e., a twig). To shorten the tree, prune back the top of the camellia to a lateral branch that has a narrow crotch angle, easily becoming the new central leader.
Pruning the following year will be necessary because hard pruning causes an imbalance between the roots and the top of the tree, resulting in a strong flush of growth and suckers along the trunk and at the ends of the cut. For trees that have never been pruned, hard pruning is necessary to establish basic framework of strong leaders and principal laterals. Pruning in subsequent years means maintaining the balance and structure obtained through the aforementioned methods.