[Arid_gardener] Re: When to prune oleander

[Olin Miller]

Oleanders are pretty tolerant as to when to prune and it should be okay to
prune now. But the best time is early fall so as not to affect spring bloom.

From:
http://www.oleander.org/culture.html

"Pruning Tips: - Oleanders are very easy to prune. Pruning will reward you
with a strong, healthy plant with lots of bloom. Here is how the procedure
goes:Oleanders should be cut back just above the leaf nodes. This is the
section where three leaves come out of the branch. By cutting it here, you
will be forcing new branching at each of the leaf nodes (joints). You will
therefore get three new branches coming from the section which once had
three leaves. By letting these new branches grow a little bit and then
pruning them also (at the leaf nodes), you will again force new branching to
occur at these points. By doing this, you will again increase the branch
threefold. This is how you get round, bushy plants. Remember, the location
of you first pruning should be low on the plant to allow a good base
structure for all the future branching. See sketch. Now...for an added
bonus, at each new branch tip, you should get a flower cluster...therefore,
by having more branches, you will also get more flowers."

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County AZ
============================================

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <hbevwaldal at cox.net>
To: <arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 10:50 AM
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page


>
> 85374
> hbevwaldal at cox.net
>
> Is it acceptable to prune Oleander plants that are flowering. April
> 15,2008