Why You Should Prune Smokebush and How to Prune It
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- Опубликовано: 12 янв 2025
- Learn how, why, and when you should prune smokebush (Cotinus). Note that Cotinus blooms on old wood, so spring pruning will remove flowers for the year.
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I thought I wanted one until I figured out Is what my neighbor has. It's old and massive and his garden grows wild. It's a mess. I'd be pruning mine to 3-4 ft if I had. I'm a pruning queen 😄!😉 Have a great day! 💚
It can definitely get out of control if not reined in some, haha! Have a fantastic day, Gina! 🤗
Maybe tree form?
Hi Stacy,
I love your videos! You are so knowledgeable! I have a Smokebush and did exactly what you said last year. So I’m hoping I get some nice branching this year. I love proven winners and I use them a lot in my landscape. I work at a school for kids with autism and teach them about landscaping, gardening, and farming. It is so much fun! I love listening to your videos and getting all the knowledge from your head into mine! Lol If you are ever in the southeastern part of Massachusetts, stop in and say hi.
That is so sweet of you, thank you so much! The work you're doing is so wonderful, happy to have fellow plant lovers/gardeners like you out there 🥰
This is right on time. Mine is due for a prune this weekend.🤩
Wahoo! Thanks for watching, friend! ☺
I love it when you guys go to the trial gardens. I’d love to see mature proven winners rose bushes ❤
Yay! So glad to hear that ☺ We will make a note to film with some of our mature roses this year 🤗
This was a very informative and helpful video! I really appreciated the detailed descriptions provided.
So glad to hear that! Thanks so much for the feedback ☺
Hello. Great information about this plant. We have a Smoke bush/tree that is about 12-14 years old. I have cut this plant almost to the ground two years ago, the base of the plant is probably 10" in diameter maybe more. It does bush out well but it to has those long straight shoots that tower above the plant. Be safe to say they top out around 20 to 25 feet high.
I just go in and cut the long shoots back to what the rest of the plant is doing growth wise. It gets plenty of splash water from a nearby fountain and if We don't stay on top of the plant it will have limbs laying in the fountain drinking the water.
They can certainly grow fast but it sounds like you've got a method that's working well for you!
Stacey, please could you discuss other quart sized plants that could benefit from pruning on the Gardening Simplified show? I try to buy most of my shrubs/trees this size to contain costs. Thank you!
I have a very old smoke bush that My father-in-law was tasked with pruning. The branches at the base were an inch and a half thick and I was shocked that he took it down to within 1 foot of the ground. It came back with reckless abandon and it’s already 7 feet tall again after only three years. Amazing tree and very unique I glad it survived.
They can be quite vigorous but are so lovely! ☺
I’m glad I saw this! Mine is getting too wide and I wasn’t sure when to manage it. I’ll prune it next early spring here in Texas zone 8b to reign it back in.
Yay! So glad you found this helpful 🤗
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟SOOOO glad this was posted because the Proven Winners website states that this plant should not be pruned, so it is very confusing. I was not going to purchase this because of the recommendation not to prune on the PW website. I just purchased two after seeing this video.
Stacy you are one of my FAVORITE people on RUclips btw!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
So glad you found this helpful! They are no doubt wonderful and interesting plants 🤗
That's so kind of you! 🥰☺
I LOVE how the rain looks on the leaves. Like jewels!! So it's mid August here in Northeast Ohio. I have two smoke bushes. One is about 2 years old. About 9 feet tall and has 2 tall main leaders. Tall and narrow. The other was planted this Spring and is nicely shaped so far. When can I prune the tall one to give it a more bushy shape? Probably not until it is dormant? I DO want smoke clusters in 2025 so I will wait to prune if it matters. Thank you.
Smokebush blooms on old wood, so if you prune any time from now (late summer) through when it blooms next June, you will be removing flower buds and the subsequent "smoke" (which is actually the seed heads). So the only time you can prune it is immediately after the smoke starts to dry out. That does start getting a little late, though, so while you can do that, the best thing for the plant would be to prune it in early spring and forego the flowers for a year in the interest of a bigger, fuller plant. ☺
2 of mine looks like that picture of 2 sticks going straight up. I planted the fall of 22…thinking of digging them and moving because I don’t like the look. I’ll try and prune first.
Yes - give pruning a try first to see if you can get a more full habit and shape that you're wanting 😄
super helpful!!
Yay! So glad to hear that 🤗
Hello and thanks for this video. One question I have is should I deadhead the blooms? I accidentally blew them off in early summer when watering the bush and now am left with the sticks. What would be best for the plant's health? The bush is about 1 year old. Thank you!
My husband mowed two of mine down. They are now trees. There was only a stck left.
Oh no! They can certainly be resilient plants
I had one of these on my property when I moved in. I didn’t prune it the last couple years, and the stems are 2-3 inches thick on the main shoots. Had a lot of rain and wind, now all but one of the big stalks have snapped or are sagging to the ground. Would you wait until it’s dormant to prune it back? I cut off the broken splits, but I’m considering taking the main shoots back to the ground. There’s lots of small shoots around the base of the bush.
In a case of severe damage like this, I would not wait - do what you need to do to clean it up now, keep it well watered, maybe a dose of fertilizer now and another in a month, and it should recover just fine. 🙂
Love this! Are they any smaller versions of this?
This is the smallest variety I believe
Winecraft Black is the smallest purple/dark leaf smokebush that we offer, but we do have Winecraft Gold which has gold/chartreuse coloring that has a smaller habit, www.provenwinnerscolorchoice.com/product/winecraft-gold-smokebush/
@@pwcolorchoice thank you!
Hi I bought a young smoke bush 3 months ago in May it’s growing fast but it’s growing sideways.its in a pot shall I wait until the winter to prune it I’m new to gardening and don’t want to damage it.thanks
I'd recommend waiting until early spring ☺
I am in the mountains in Northeast Oregon. I have a Smoke bush that I inherited, and it is not blooming yet, but there are lots of beautiful red leaves. My problem is that there are sticks that are tall and gangly and pushing over other branches and they have no leaves or buds on them. Can I cut them down to the ground now, even though it is summertime?
Yes, you can!
I have an old one with a thick stem - almost 2" diameter...and tall. I guess I should have pruned it sooner - but can I cut that down say to 12" off ground and have it sprout from lowdown? there are other, younger stems....I'm in mid-coast Maine.
Yes, you can!
I purchased a smoke bush already pruned to a tree. Looking back at original photos, it appears ot was stripped of too many buds,now i have these long bare branches. Anything i can do to not have these long bare branches without cutting the tree to the ground?
Could you send us a photo of that plant? Then we can make sure to give you the best pruning advice for a better habit ☺
You can send it here, www.provenwinnerscolorchoice.com/contact-us/
My bushes are 7 years old and very large. I want them smaller. Can I cut back the large thick branches which appear to be main trunks? This will leave no leaves.
This is hard to answer without seeing a photo of the plant - can you use the contact us tab at ProvenWinnersColorChoice.com to send us a message and image?
can I prune these straight branches at the end of the summer
Smokebush blooms on old wood, so if you prune any time from now (late summer) through when it blooms next June, you will be removing flower buds and the subsequent "smoke" (which is actually the seed heads). So the only time you can prune it is immediately after the smoke starts to dry out. That does start getting a little late, though, so while you can do that, the best thing for the plant would be to prune it in early spring and forego the flowers for a year in the interest of a bigger, fuller plant.
I planted 4 new smoke bushes last fall. The two taller ones - 3-4 feet (Golden Spirit and Winecraft gold) are leafing out at the bottom and the tips but not the center of the stems. Golden Spirit looks the worst with barely any leaves at all. Should I cut them back or leave them alone?
To be sure we're giving the best advice, can you send some photos of the plants to our feedback line? Then we can take a look and get back to you with our advice ☺ www.provenwinnerscolorchoice.com/contact-us/
should this be done in fall? My neighbor hard pruned and it took years for it to regain any size.
Late winter/early spring is the best time to prune smokebush 🙂
Mine is still holding onto last years old leaves. Should I brush them off for the new leaves to come in? Nebraska, zone 5.
It isn't necessary as the old leaves will fall off on their own over time but if you want to clean the plant up you can certainly do so ☺
Ugh. I wish I’d seen this in the winter. It’s spring in Atlanta and mine has these crazy high stalks. Can I trim them now or is it too late for the season?
You can still prune it now, just note that pruning may remove some of the flowers for this year but they'll be fine for next year 🙂
Can I prune this in the fall?
Smokebush blooms on old wood, so if you prune any time from now (late summer) through when it blooms next June, you will remove flower buds. However, you can prune to shape the plant now, just know that you will be removing some of those flowers for next year.
I have a smoke 'tree' that we planted in 2017. It has two separate trunks and one has died. Other half is fine. Is there a way to cut the side that seems dead and have regrowth? It seems like it might turn it into a bush if I cut it towards that bottom. it has never really bloomed the beautiful smoke blooms either..we have a few but they aren't like the ones I see in the videos. We fertilize it and it seems to get watered and sun enough..any thoughts? Maybe I'm not pruning it right?
We live in MO..getting ready to prune mine today...a little later than planned but it's not budding yet.
To give you the best advice, it would be helpful for us to see a photo - you can visit our website at ProvenWinnersColorChoice.com and click "contact" to reach us. You should be able to remove the dead part of the plant without an issue, but depending on how it's growing, that might be easier said than done. I don't know why it might not be flowering, that's certainly strange - have you ever pruned it at all?
I have a couple of smoke trees and love them even if they grow cattywompus 😂 As I don’t want to lose any of the blooms this year, when is the right time to prune to for next years blooms?
It isn't necessary to routinely prune smokebush, but if you want to help improve the shape/habit as mentioned in this video, you can do so in late winter/early spring. Because smokebush blooms on old wood, when you prune you will be removing some of the flower buds, so if you wanted to enjoy your flowers this year and then prune for next, you could always do that ☺
I really appreciate your advice. Thank you. @@pwcolorchoice
Always happy to help! 🥰@@mkb7997
Can I prune after is starts leafing out in early spring or will that damage?
Yes, you can! By pruning you may be removing some of the flower buds on the plant but you want to prune it for your desired habit and spring is the best time to do so.
mine is super floppy, how do I prune to make it stronger?
How much sun does your smokebush get?
❓About how old are these here? I LOOOOVE Proven Winners btw!!! About 90% of my yard is filled with PW 🌟
You rock! 😄 The plant in this video is about 4-5 years old ☺
Your uploads don't seem to be working. I tried to upload photos and it didn't work. Tried again and I received the message that only one entry was allowed. "multiple submissions are disabled for this form." Suggestions?
Oh no! Sorry about that, it could be an image size or format issue - if the "Request for Plant Help or Recommendations" isn't working for you on that previous link, you can send the message and photos here, www.provenwinners.com/feedback 😊
So if a have one that can get ten by ten feet can I seriously just keep hacking it up?!
If you're pruning to try and control the size that won't work as the plant will still continue to grow towards that mature size, even after pruning it. We don't recommend regularly pruning smokebush, which can encourage funky branching and can remove developing flower buds for that summer. So really you want to selectively prune your plant to help achieve the desired habit ☺