How to Prune Potentilla Shrubs - Pruning, Winter Care and Hopes.
If your potentilla has become so overgrown that standardPruning won't help, you should cut all the canes back as close to the soil surface as possible in the early spring.If necessary, use a lawn mower.Thin and shape the new canes as you please.
The old canes are in place despite the shearing of potentilla hedges.Shearing the hedge is always preferable to removing old canes completely because of their susceptibility to disease and insect damage.
You can grow happy potentilla shrubs (Potentilla fruticosa) if you combine a cold-winter, cool- summer climate, a sunny garden spot and well-drained soil.Potentillas re-emerging every spring with upright canes of finely textured, gray- to deep-green foliage are found in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 7.Their five-petaled, roselike flowers -- in white and a host of warm colors -- provide a spring-to-fall show.Use potentillas to accent the shrub border or train them into a hedge.Control the shape and size of the plants by Prune them.
Pruning potentilla shrubs is done in the third year after planting.They should be Prune them early in the spring before their new canes come out.A minimum of upkeep is required to establish and maintain a dense-but-tidy framework.
Pruning tools should be washed between cuts in a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water to avoid spreading disease.Pruning potentillas can be done with hand pruners.
Cut the canes back to the ground.This allows more air and light to reach the interior, stimulating flower production and decreasing the risk of disease.
As you go to look at your work, continue to peck canes to the ground.The goal is for the shape to be informal.Next, Prune broken canes.When you've trimmed about one-third of the shrub's canes, save the healthy ones for last.Remove any twigs that are straggly or awkwardly placed.
Every spring, Prune your established potentilla's framework.This technique is applicable to both single and hedge plants.
It's a good idea to examine your potentillas frequently for dead or broken canes.Plants are at risk of being invaded by insects or infections if they are not removed immediately.
You can remove canes with your tool.The cane's brown tissue should be removed if you see it.Continue until you find green tissue.Cut back the healthy wood by 6 inches.Right above healthy leaf buds, slant the cuts away from them.Cut the cane to the ground if it's brown.Between the test scrapes and the pruning cuts,Disinfect your tool.