The Essential Guide to Eucalyptus Pruning
Eucalyptus trees and shrubs have become a mainstay in many British gardens, popular for their distinct scents and unique, round, blueish-green leaves. They’re an easy tree to care for and introduce to a garden bed, coming established and ready to plant in growing pots. They’ve become a powerhouse in the world of accessible cheap garden plants. With this in mind, eucalyptus pruning is an important skill for most gardeners to pick up. This article will give insights into how to prune a eucalyptus tree, ensuring you can keep any plants healthy and in the right shape.
Basic principles for pruning eucalyptus
Before you start going at your eucalyptus with a set of shears or secateurs, you need to understand the general principles that inform the process. Simply chopping and cutting away willy-nilly isn’t going to be the smartest move!
When to prune eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is generally ready to prune in the later months of winter or the earliest parts of spring. This is when the plant begins a more active growth phase, so pruning now means the plant will heal faster and more fruitfully. Pruning during more humid periods can increase the risk of fungal infections and diseases – completely counterintuitive to the point of pruning.
Your choice of tools
Much like when approaching any plant, eucalyptus pruning has to be completed with high-quality, clean and sharp pruning tools. This is an essential principle for keeping unnecessary damage and disease at bay. Consult some reviews or articles for more insights into the tools you invest in.
Eucalyptus pruning technique
There are some important technical points to keep in mind when it comes to actually pruning eucalyptus trees. For example, cuts need to be clean and angled to allow water to run off and prevent rot. In general, you should only cut back damaged or diseased growths back to before the outward-facing buds. This encourages regrowth in the right direction.
It’s also worth noting that there are different pruning requirements for trees and shrubs within the species.
Tree-specific pruning tips
Eucalyptus trees usually require less pruning than shrubs. The main focus when pruning trees should be on removing dead, damaged and diseased branches. If pruning for structural/aesthetic reasons, you can also prune any skewed branches that create weak, unattractive angles.
Shrub-specific pruning tips
If pruning eucalyptus shrubs, you can get a little more trigger-happy with your pruning technique. Shrubby plants benefit from harder pruning or even coppicing, which means cutting them back to almost ground level. This will encourage new bushy growth, while light pruning can still be used to control the shape and size of the plant.
Additional considerations for pruning
Now that you understand the basics, you need to keep a few additional principles in mind. Otherwise, you might starting pruning with a confidence that turns your plant pot into a coffin for the eucalyptus!
It’s important to keep in mind:
- There are a few varieties of eucalyptus available to gardeners, each with specific pruning requirements – check when you purchase them for any important notes
- Many forms of eucalyptus will be sensitive to heavy pruning, so don’t remove too much foliage at once
- Always wear safe gardening gloves when pruning eucalyptus to ensure that you don’t cut your hands or fingers
In short, pruning eucalyptus can be approached much like pruning other smaller trees or bushes. However, you should always maintain awareness of the specific variety that you’ve purchased, along with the preferred shape that you’re going for with the plant. Get some quality pruning shears, converse with the seller about your choice of eucalyptus and get pruning.