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I have what I consider to be a massive camellia bush (tree??) in the front of my house, against the backyard fence. My arborist was horrified at the thought of pruning it; my neighbor says it is the most impressive camellia bush in the neighborhood. It is definitely beautiful - blooms several times a year, with very odd colors. It is just... huge. And I am starting to worry about it a bit because the limbs of the "tree" are definitely leaning to either side, and I suspect it is top heavy. These are some pictures I took a few minutes ago:
Would you recommend pruning it, and how (other than get a REALLY tall ladder, haha)? Right now, I do absolutely nothing to this plant... no fertilizer, no watering other than what it gets from rain... nada. I'll likely rake away the old blooms soon, but then again, maybe I should leave them there for mulch?
Any advice (and possibly identification, since I didn't know camellias could produce different color blooms on the same plant, I'm new to this) would be welcome!
I suspect that this particular bush is one that has more than one variety grafted together.
As far as pruning, that's up to you. I think I would leave it alone. I like the big bushes. It's difficult to prune a camellia so that it buds back out evenly. Cut out any dead branches.
Rake the old blooms up. Petal blight ofter gets started on the fallen blooms and then spreads to the living bush.
Oh, if it doesn't need to be pruned, I won't touch it. I like the privacy it gives our backyard! The limbs just look like they're going to snap in two if it keeps growing, and since I never grew camellias, I worried that I was being negligent
Also, never knew you could graft plants together. I'll have to look that up - I mean, the different blooms are often on the same branch, but who knows what the previous owner did to manage it! My neighbor tells me she was quite the gardener, but I wish she didn't go quite so overboard in the front yard... 27 cubic feet of mulch, ugh!
That’s a beautiful camellia! If it was mine it would be hard to keep myself from cleaning up the branches around the bottom third of it, but probably best to leave it alone like everyone said. One of my camellias (Spring Circus) is supposed to be multicolored like that, but it hasn’t bloomed yet.
I suspect that this particular bush is one that has more than one variety grafted together.
As far as pruning, that's up to you. I think I would leave it alone. I like the big bushes. It's difficult to prune a camellia so that it buds back out evenly. Cut out any dead branches.
Rake the old blooms up. Petal blight ofter gets started on the fallen blooms and then spreads to the living bush.
Or maybe it's more than one plant (I can see more than one trunk going into the ground? I'm with everyone else in terms of not pruning in general. I would however cut out the dead branches to encourage internal growth - and to get the plant(s) to bush out. Also - I am not a big fan of the branches that run across the ground (mostly because our ground can get very wet during summer rains and encourage rot/bugs - and those limbs can really start to look messy). I sure wouldn't prune the top of this camellia. Robyn
I suspect that this particular bush is one that has more than one variety grafted together.
As far as pruning, that's up to you. I think I would leave it alone. I like the big bushes. It's difficult to prune a camellia so that it buds back out evenly. Cut out any dead branches.
Rake the old blooms up. Petal blight ofter gets started on the fallen blooms and then spreads to the living bush.
Or maybe it's more than one plant (I can see more than one trunk going into the ground? I'm with everyone else in terms of not pruning in general. I would however cut out the dead branches to encourage internal growth - and to get the plant(s) to bush out. Also - I am not a big fan of the branches that run across the ground (mostly because our ground can get very wet during summer rains and encourage rot/bugs - and those limbs can start to look really messy). I sure wouldn't prune the top of this camellia.
BTW - I have a couple of ideas about the identification. When did this camellia bloom? Robyn
Or maybe it's more than one plant (I can see more than one trunk going into the ground? I'm with everyone else in terms of not pruning in general. I would however cut out the dead branches to encourage internal growth - and to get the plant(s) to bush out. Also - I am not a big fan of the branches that run across the ground (mostly because our ground can get very wet during summer rains and encourage rot/bugs - and those limbs can start to look really messy). I sure wouldn't prune the top of this camellia.
BTW - I have a couple of ideas about the identification. When did this camellia bloom? Robyn
It's definitely the same plant - both white and pink are on the same branch in some spots. Not to say there aren't more than one trunk, but I figured it was the same odd camellia from all of them.
It started blooming in late January... and hasn't stopped, lol. It puts out blooms several times a year.
Well your Camellia is just beautiful! Like the OP, I also came into a camellia when I moved into this house. Mine isn't blooming yet, and I am so impatient. I see camellias in full bloom across the river in Portland, but mine, located in Vancouver, WA just sits there with its big fat buds waiting for something. On the other side of my yard, sits another, less robust camellia which has put out two red blooms. It has others on the way, unless they have decided not to progress.
I've never had one of these. So having one is a delight. But I am so impatient.
In the big camellia there is a limb that grows inward and crosses over to the other side of the tree. I think it needs to be pruned out. Yes? And I intend to fertilize with a high acid fertilizer after bloom. Yes?
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