Good pruning for healthy growth

Flowering time dictates cutting time

For the imaginative garden design, the splendid genus of the tamarisk gives us spring-blooming and summer-blooming varieties. Spring tamarisks (Tamarix parviflora) shine in their pink and white flower dress from May to June. Summer tamarisks (Tamarix ramosissima) adorn the bed and balcony with their picturesque flower clouds from July until well into autumn. The flowering time determines when you prune the flowering shrub:

• Cut spring tamarisk after flowering
• Cut summer tamarisk in February / March

It is characteristic of the spring tamarisk that it already planted its flower buds in the previous year. If the ornamental wood is cut in late winter, almost all of the buds fall victim to the scissors and the longed-for flower magic fails. The summer tamarisk, on the other hand, takes its time with the bud plant until the beginning of this year's season, so that you can note the date for a cut for February / March.

Optional cutting of tamarisk - Instructions

Annual pruning is not mandatory so that the pink and white clouds of flowers of a tamarisk turn the garden into a wonderland. It depends on your horticultural assessment whether you thinning out the flowering bush or cut it into shape. Good to know for beginners in pruning is that thanks to the good-natured cut tolerance and Rapid growth rate one or the other beginner's mistake from a tamarisk in the twinkling of an eye is adjusted. The following cut has proven itself excellently in gardening practice:

• In the first step, cut out dead wood, damaged, balding and transversely growing shoots
• Cut excessively long, heavily drooping branches back to the desired length
• If necessary, clean off withered flower panicles
• Start of cut 3-5 mm above one bud or a pair of leaves

In the interests of continuous regeneration, we recommend cutting off one or two of the oldest ground shoots at the roots from the fifth year onwards. As a substitute, choose the most promising candidates from among young ground shoots. Cut off all other shoots at ground level so that the tamarisk can grow loosely and flooded with light. If the space in the bed or tub allows, the flowering shrub is very well positioned with a framework of five to twelve ground shoots.

Use clippings as cuttings

Numerous candidates for propagation are hidden in the clippings of a tamarisk Cuttings. Choose half-woody shoot tips that are six inches long and have no flower buds. This has the potential for another tamarisk for creative garden design. Defoliate a cutting in the lower half and plant it in a pot of lean, well-drained soil.