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Pruning Scottish Broom
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Posted by gray11606 08008 (My Page) on Sun, Nov 8, 09 at 14:12
| My Scottish Broom was planted in the summer of 2008. It has grown out of control, taking up too much space. How can I prune it to get it under control?
Thanks,
Gray11606 |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pruning Scottish Broom
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| You can prune it down by several inches to control the size you want, but if you do it immediately after the flowers fade next spring, that will give it time to form flower buds for the following year. So if you do it now, you won't get any flowers in spring of 2010. Otherwise they can be pruned back several inches without problems. |
RE: Pruning Scottish Broom
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gray,
Thought I would share with you some things I have mentioned in the past about this shrub.
Relatively speaking broom tends to be an inexpensive shrub because as stated above it is short lived (in my world around 7yrs). Your babies probably had not had enough time to produce a large enough root system to help the top growth (evergreen without benefit of broad leaf) survive winter burn. If you try again and I think you should the plant may have a horrible bloom smell but there is nothing else like it's texture, keep in mind and plan for a short life (it also reseeds easily). You can increase the fullness of your broom by pruning in March. Lift each branch and shear off about 1/3 the length of each needle much like you were giving it a hair cut. This will produce a fuller plant. If you are considering replacing it I would do it now so the roots have enough time to settle in before next winter. kt |
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