- When should you radically cut back oleanders?
- How is the radical cut performed?
- What time of year is best for this activity?
Oleander is a very pruning-tolerant plant that should be cut back every spring. In this way, you eliminate damage caused by hibernation and also prevent balding. However, sometimes it may be necessary to 'plant' oleanders, i. H. cut the bush down to the ground.
If the oleander is heavily bare, a radical pruning can revive it
When should you radically cut back oleanders?
This can be the case, for example, if the plant has been neglected for several years and is therefore bald. These leafless branches will not grow leaves or flowers, so you'll need to remove them to encourage new growth. Even if the shrub does not really want to grow and/or bloom, a radical pruning can sometimes work wonders. Oleander reliably drives out again both from sleeping eyes and directly from the root. In the season following pruning, a beautiful, bushy shrub has developed. You only have to wait a while for the flowers to bloom, because oleanders mainly bloom on two-year-old wood.
How is the radical cut performed?
Remove all shoots just above the ground. They only leave three to five young and well-developed ones and cut them off about a hand's breadth - about 20 centimeters - above the ground. Be careful not to leave any stubs - they will only develop weak water shoots that will not produce flowers.
Instead of radical pruning, thin out oleanders
If you don't want to put your oleander on the stick and want to do without flowering for the time being, you can only thin out the bush heavily. Carefully cut away all bare and weak, diseased, dead and overhanging shoots. This procedure has the advantage that you do not have to do without flowering the following year.
What time of year is best for this activity?
Basically, you can do this cut any time of the year. However, the best way for the oleander to sprout again is after pruning in spring, because at this time the plant is ready for a new shoot anyway. Do the pruning in March or April on a mild day and after clearing out the winter quarters.
tips
Of course, oleander can also be pruned back before putting it into winter quarters.