I have Bottle Brush that are about 30 yrs old, That have not been maintained. How far can trimming go?

Question

I would like to trim these up with out damaging the plant. When I was a child they were nice and thick with many large blooms. I would like to have a nice cleaned up look to them. Any suggestions would be great, I really like the bush (more tree-like now) and would like to have it around for many more years.

thanks

Answer 1

Hi Kristi -

I grew up with Bottlebrush too -- aren't they great? The trimming and maintenance should be fairly easy - particularly given the age of the plant. Because it is a hardwood plant, you do not want to cut it all the way down to a woody extension (such as the trunk or major branches, etc) and expect it to grow back - it wouldn't. Using this as a guide, remove the woody branches which you want to have permanently removed and only cut back the stems on the leafed portions to maintain the shape you wish. Following this guide, you can slowly train it to be a small tree by isolating the larger core of the plant and preserving that - while cutting back the fleshier growth and removing the excess.

Important to remember that whatever you do, dont cut bottlebrush back to its woody extensions and expect it to grow back\.

Good luck.