A Guide to Pruning Container Plants

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Rich Binsacca

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If you want your container plants to grow healthy, prune them.

Not just a shaping method, pruning helps limit root growth –especially important in the confines of a container – while also keeping your plants looking fresh and well-tended.

Shape your container plant by snipping away long branches with slanted cuts made right above latent buds, or nodes. These are easy to identify by examining where leaf stems join the branch. Nodes are left when leaves drop from the branch. Each new terminal node – the one closest to the cut – will soon sprout a new shoot.

Your container plant’s roots will grow more slowly because there’s less foliage remaining above, which means slower photosynthesis.

Deadheading allows new annual or perennial flowers to continue blossoming, effectively extending the blooming season. Cut away the entire faded flower stem in a pair or cluster.

Pinching is a hands-on method of removing old growth to encourage further blooms, bushier clusters or larger blossoms. Take the foliage or immature flower buds you want to remove between your thumb and forefinger and just pinch them off.

“Really?” you might ask. If you’re a newcomer to gardening, it sure may seem like the opposite of what you should do to get your plants to grow. But think of pruning like a good haircut, cutting off damaged ends and redirecting growth in a healthy way.

In truth, proper shaping, trimming and thinning keep container plants growing strong from season to season. For the plants, pruning sort of re-creates events that take place in nature when animals crop and feed on foliage. Like that haircut, pruning cuts are irreversible. But even when a “mistake” means cutting a stem or branch back a little further to properly direct a growth pattern, chances are it’ll be for the best, and the plant will be strengthened as a result.

And as with any good haircut, you shouldn’t just start cutting at a plant willy-nilly. Pruning is a measure for maintaining a healthy plant, so it includes the removal of dead or dying stems or branches, as well as those that are weak, ill or growing off course. The goal is for the strongest and straightest branches to thrive. That means cutting all that straggly or weak growth from the center of the plant to direct energy toward the stronger branches.

Occasionally, pruning also means clipping flowers, but usually toward the end of their bloom cycle. Annuals, in particular, need to be cut back as soon as the seed heads start to form on the dying flowers. Called deadheading, this pruning practice halts an annual’s natural urge for propagation in favor of more flowers and a longer blooming season. To deadhead, simply cut or pinch the seed head back to the flower stem joint. This will help make your annuals grow more bushy and full, forcing new branches and shoots to grow.

When you should prune your container plant depends on whether the plant relies on a previous year’s growth or entirely new growth to produce flowers the next year. Hydrangeas and camellias, for example, bloom on old growth, so they should be pruned at the end of the season (after it’s done flowering) in anticipation of the following year’s growth. Azaleas and many roses, however, require new growth to flower, so prune those plants when buds appear or during a plant’s dormant months.

Of course, it’s always the right season to thin out unproductive growth, remove diseased or dead foliage and flowers, cut to train a climbing plant, or shear a shrub to refine or reduce its shape. Just remember to think of pruning like that haircut: When your plants start to lose their shapes or don’t look healthy, bring out the shears and shape carefully.

Warnings

If you’re dealing with diseased plants, be sure to sanitize your pruners between each snip with a bleach-and-water solution so you don’t spread the disease around the plant or to others in your garden. Throw those diseased cuttings in the trash – do not add them to the compost pile!

Tips

Check your container plants frequently to see what – if anything – needs to be pruned. This is also a good time to check for early stages of disease. If you find anything, you can simply trim it off before the problem spreads. (Even if the problem is small, it’s still a good idea to figure out what caused it in the first place so you can fix the issue before it comes back.)

Tools

When pruning shears become dull, it’s time to sharpen them or get new ones. Fortunately, pruners are economical tools: By the snip, treating your plants to a sharp cut costs a tiny fraction of their price. Discard dull shears after 1-2 seasons of constant use.
Read More...
For thick, woody limbs, a pruning saw is the better tool when it comes time for removal. These are thin-bladed, deep-toothed saws with special raker teeth that pull sap-laden sawdust out of the cut. The rakers are actually set at slight angles to the main blade, clearing the cut of sawdust so the cutting teeth can get a purchase to rip the wood.

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Container gardens are easy to manage when you make good choices from the beginning. The right plants, pots, soil and placement go a long way in preventing container problems. Follow that up with proper planting and care, and you’re on your way to a gorgeous garden – and green thumb!
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Good gardening practices go far to prevent fungus and disease issues in container gardens, but problems can still arise. Keep a sharp eye out for symptoms to help diagnose diseases quickly, so you can isolate a sick plant and treat the illness before it spirals out of control.

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