I have a large and currently happy red Camellia - i.e. it has bloome
profusely this year. We have building works starting next week and I think I ought to prun the Camellia, so that it doesn't get battered by the builder. They ar building a wall 4 feet away from it. How severely should I prune it, (or not) as I really don't want to los it
-- idec44
Tell your workmen to get no closer than 2 feet. If they lay a hand on it don't pay them.
Go to your public library, large bookstore, or comprehensive nursery (NOT a lumberyard or hardware store). They should have a copy of Sunset's book on Camellias, which thoroughly describes how to prune.
There is no reason to prune the Camellia.
Camellias do not have to be pruned to promote good growth and blooming. However, there may indeed be valid reasons why someone might want to prune a camellia.
My camellia bed is outside my dining room window. After a few years, they begin to block the view of my garden from that window, especially the view of the hedge of azaleas just in front of the camellias. I prune them about once every 3-5 years.
A bush might interfere with the coverage from a sprinkler system. An overgrown camellia might be in the way of having a house painted or a lawn mowed. And there is always a desire to shape a bush for aesthetic reasons.
Unlike with many other broadleaf evergreens that can be cut at any time and might even be sheared, there is an optimum way to cut a camellia and an optimum time.
By the way, unlike other fruit trees, citrus does not need to be pruned. However, I am always nipping growth on my three dwarf citrus trees, just to keep them looking nice.
Can't see myself planting something that will get really big in front of a window I wanted to look out.
Who planted the bush in the way of the sprinkler?
One should leave enough room between foundation plantings and the house so routine maintenance may be performed.
One should resist unnatural desires.
Telling an inane talent less gardener like you to shut the F up is a natural urge....
i'd do any pruning after the builders had departed and just remove an damage they may cause....incidently there is a chinese method o pruning Camellia where shoots and branches are removed leaving gap just large enough for a bird to " fly through " without touching th plant. i tried this method on some large new transplants and found...i the uk at least...that the greater air movement this pruning styl allows meant the individual flowers lasted longer because they drie out quicker after rain
-- Eyebright
Well-established camillias can take a *lot* of pruning. This may be your opportunity to shape it up. This site has quite a bit of information.
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