The smoke smoker combines unique pom-pom fruits and furious fall colors with an expansive growth. These properties raise questions about the right cut. This tutorial sheds light on all the options for professional pruning of the Cotinus coggygria. How to properly prune a smoke bush.

Regular pruning contributes to healthy, even growth

Table of Contents

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  1. Editing options and dates
  2. build-up cut
  3. thinning cut
  4. topiary
  5. taper cut
  6. Cut back when changing location
  7. frequently asked Questions

    8. Reasons and dates for a cut at a glance

    The wig tree belongs to the illustrious circle of ornamental trees that can confidently do without a pruning. An annual shape and thinning cut is also not a mandatory part of the care program. Nevertheless, there are various occasions that make it sensible to use scissors and saws. The following table gives you all the options for a cut on the wig tree:

    cut type aim period/occasion meeting
    build-up cut controlled growth, regulation of dispersal from the 2nd year in spring before budding
    thinning cut Preservation of vitality, flower and fruit decoration every year or every 2 to 3 years in late winter until March 1st
    topiary Promotion of young, intensely colored leaves from the 2nd year or after reaching the desired height before budding
    taper cut Rebuild old shrub in the event of aging as a result of neglected cutting care in late winter until March 1st
    pruning Compensation for lost root volume after transplanting immediately after the change of location

    There is another cutting option for home gardeners with a soft spot for self-tied drying bouquets and a knack for creating imaginative arrangements. When the branches show off their fluffy wigs in autumn, the loveliest shoots can be pruned without hesitation.

    Instructions for a build-up cut

    As a solitaire, a willow tree shows its most beautiful side and does not require any pruning. In a small garden or together with other ornamental trees to form a decorative group, the focus is on the type of cut. As part of a well thought-out education, you set the course for controlled growth with a limited number of scaffolding shoots. At the same time, this pruning measure dampens the urge to spread at the beginning, because it is hardly possible for low-lying runners to form. This is how an exemplary build-up cut succeeds:

    • In the spring of the 2nd year select the 5 to 7 strong shoots for the framework
    • Cut off excess and weak ground shoots at the base
    • Do not shorten skeletal shoots to preserve the inflorescences and fruit stalls

    If the selected scaffolding shoots with numerous side branches get in each other's enclosure, please do not cut off the shoot tips. Rather, remove the weakest and unfavorable side shoots. With this cut, you slim down the willow bush without affecting the natural shape.

    Instructions for the clearing cut

    The most common type of pruning on the smoke bush concentrates on removing dead or unfavorable shoots. The aim is an airy, loose growth of ground shoots and their branches. If a willow tree can develop freely at the location, a thinning cut is usually recommended at intervals of 2 to 3 years. Here’s how to do it professionally:

    • Thin out dead wood
    • Arching overhanging tips derive from young, vertical shoots
    • Cut back or remove criss-crossing shoots that are directed towards the inside of the bush
    • Cut off low-lying branches rooted in the ground

    The key to success in grooming is targeted slimming down of the smoke bush without disturbing the one-year-old shoots with the scissors. You can identify the valuable young wood from the previous year by its unbranched, upright growth. The figure below shows the correct procedure.

    Dead and inward shoots are trimmed. Overhanging and heavily branched branches are diverted and slimmed down. One-year-old twigs bear the loveliest infructescence and are spared from thinning out.

    Topiary encourages bright foliage adornment

    Some of the most beautiful varieties of the smoke tree shine with intensely colored ornamental leaves. The premium variety 'Royal Purple' inspires with black and red leaves. 'Golden Spirit' is magnificently staged with yellow-golden foliage. The younger the leaves, the more intense the coloring. A strong cut achieved in spring that shoots grow back throughout the summer and constantly new, colored leaves sprout.

    You can either start pruning from the second year or you can wait until the willow tree has reached the desired height. This is how a cut promotes the luminosity of the leaves:

    • Cut back all shoots to 30 to 100 cm in late spring
    • Position the pruning shears 3-5 mm above an outward-facing leaf bud
    • In addition, from the 5th year, completely cut off the 2 to 3 oldest skeletal or ground shoots
    • Optionally cut back this year's growth after St. John's Day (24 June).

    By picking up the scissors again at the end of June/beginning of July, use the second leaf shoot for a colorful end to the year for your wig tree. Provided that the weather conditions are suitable, the ornamental tree will sprout again in late summer with brightly colored, young ornamental leaves. Before the leaves fall, the color festival ends in warm, autumnal tones.

    the disadvantage this cut care is in Abandon the autumn fruit stands. A smoke bush already planted its flower buds in the previous year. With each cut of the one-year-old shoots, the flowering plants for this year's season are destroyed without replacement.

    digression

    vitality test

    A smoke tree often puts on its leaves and flowers in mid-May to early June. This growth behavior tempts the home gardener to remove a shoot as deadwood, although it is still full of life. With a vitality test avoid this fallacy. On the branch in question, scrape off a little of the bark. If light to green tissue emerges, the shoot is not a case for scissors or a saw. However, if you expose brown discolored, dry tissue, it is actually deadwood.

    Rejuvenate smoke bush - this is how it works

    Without a pruning, a smoke bush will age faster. Hardly any young ground shoots are formed that can replace old skeletal shoots. The branches shade each other in the dense network, so that the flagging photosynthesis causes the shoots to become bare. The abundance of flowers and fruit decorations are visibly decreasing. With a courageous taper cut restore the neat appearance and revitalize the bush as a whole. How to proceed correctly step by step:

    • Saw off all dead shoots at the base
    • Aged scaffolding shoots with overhanging brooms divert to a young side shoot below
    • Select the desired number of new trellis shoots under young ground shoots
    • Remove excess, weak bottom shoots

    The illustration below demonstrates how to professionally rejuvenate an old smoke bush. Apart from the procedure, the choice of date is of particular importance. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, radical pruning measures on trees and shrubs are permitted between October 1st and March 1st. This exception only applies if it is ensured in advance that there are no wild animals in the wood.

    In the case of rejuvenation pruning on the smoke bush, bottom shoots are only removed if they have actually died. Aged skeletal shoots should be diverted to a young side branch in the lower area.

    Change of location requires targeted pruning

    The willow tree thrives as a cordate root with a root system that goes deep and wide. Compared to flat-rooted plants, such as forsythia or chanterelles, it is difficult for the wig tree to re-root after a change of location. Within the first five years there are still good prospects of successfully transplanting the ornamental tree. The risk of failure is significantly reduced when a pruning compensates for the lost root volume. So transplanting and pruning go hand in hand:

    • Dig up the willow tree with as much root volume as possible and plant it in the new location
    • Cut back all shoots by a third to half
    • Start each cut a short distance from a bud or a sleeping eye

    Adjust the amount of pruning so that the balance between underground and above-ground growth is restored at the end.

    frequently asked Questions

    Is the smoke bush poisonous?

    Botanists assign the smoke tree to the Sumanac family (Anacardiaceae). Therefore, the ornamental tree is distantly related to nasty plants, such as the dreaded poison ivy. It is therefore to be feared that the sap of a smoke bush is not completely harmless. Sensitive people with a pronounced susceptibility to allergies should wear gloves as a precaution when caring for the cut.

    How hardy is a smoke tree really?

    Competent tree nurseries offer the wig tree for all gardens from winter hardiness zone 6 a. This categorization implies frost resistance up to - 23.3 degrees Celsius. However, this value should only be used as a guide. Freshly planted young shrubs need a light winter protection in the first two years. In the tub, a smoke bush does not get through the cold season unscathed without a translucent hood and a warm winter coat made of fleece.

    My wig bush does not bloom and does not wear wigs - why is that?

    The most common reason for the failure of the summer blossom and autumn wig fruit is an incorrectly selected pruning time. A smoke bush already lays the buds for the next flowering period in the previous year. If you cut back in spring, most of the flower buds fall victim to it. Limit pruning to a late winter thinning cut. Do not cut back the annual shoots. Branches that are too long and arching lead you to a young side branch.

    The 3 most common cutting mistakes

    A smoke bush's good-natured tolerance for pruning cannot prevent a disappointing result if the gardener makes one of the following mistakes. This table gives you the 3 most common mishaps in cutting care and gives practical tips for regulation or prevention.

    cutting error Result Correction/Prevention
    never cleared Aging, fewer and fewer flowers and wigs Rejuvenation pruning, then a thinning pruning every 1 to 3 years
    placed on the stick no or poor new shoots Thin out dead wood, divert senile branches to a young side shoot
    cut in the fall Frost damage due to late budding Cut in spring, just before they sprout

    The good winter hardiness of wig bushes comes to nothing if you make one of the most common mistakes and you make the cut in the fall. In this case, the laws of growth cause fresh, soft budding at the tips of the shoots. There is not enough time before the onset of winter for the twig tips to mature and become lignified. The result is irreparable frost damage.

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    tips

    Over the years, the outer branches of the willow tree will lie down like a drag on the ground and take root quickly. These sinkers are perfect for uncomplicated propagation. Do not cut off a healthy, strong shoot, but wait until it has developed its own root system. Only then is the mother plant and offshoot separated. Dig up the offspring with their roots and plant them in a new location.

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Garden design