How to prune osmanthus

No pruning of the whole plant

The whole plant is left alone without being pruned, which is suitable for the initial stage of shaping young osmanthus trees. It mainly includes twisting and pulling branches. The former is to artificially soften the tender branches in the early growth stage to change the growth direction and adjust the position. For thick annual branches, branch pulling is done by using wire and nailing wooden stakes into the ground to control the growth direction.

Minor trimming

The first step is to pinch off the tender branches with 3 or 4 leaflets at the top of the branches to promote more branching, which is suitable for growing nutrient branches. Please note that you must pinch the branches; pinching only the leaves will have no effect. Secondly, pruning is done on one-year-old branches. After pruning, retaining more than half of the branch can promote the growth of buds on the upper part of the branch and promote more branching. Then heavy pruning is to keep less than half of the annual branches. After pruning, the dormant buds at the bottom of the branches can be activated, which may form new long branches or become flowering branches in the future. The final pinching work is for long branches that are more than two years old. It is to cut off the growth of the previous year, replace the branch groups, promote multiple branches, and effectively control the flowering position so that it will no longer extend year by year.

Major pruning

This method is suitable for the renewal of old osmanthus trees. The first two types of pruning will not have a big impact on the overall shape of the tree, but drastic pruning is likely to change the original shape of the tree beyond recognition. It can also be used in combination with grafting.