Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
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Thursday - May 29, 2008
From: deltona, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Pruning, Trees
Title: Pruning of Bauhinia lunarioides
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I have a Bauhinia variegata..when is the best time to prune it? it tends to grow horizontally..where do you clip off the limbs?ANSWER:
We did some pretty extensive hunting, and the only reference to pruning as regards Bauhinia lunarioides (Texasplume) was to "prune as necessary," which isn't real informative. We couldn't find any indication that pruning at the wrong time would affect flowering. In the absence of better information, we would recommend any pruning you felt was needed be done in the Winter, when plants are more nearly dormant. We also feel that this plant is much lovelier in its natural state, with multiple trunks, and an open appearance. Pruning to shape would really not be beneficial nor as attractive, in our opinion. If you were anxious to prune your plant into a tree, you would have to start pruning lower branches as they emerged, selecting a main branch or "leader" as your trunk. Of course, you would always want to prune off damaged or dead branches.
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