Pruning is one of the most important jobs you can do in your garden. Pruning helps control pests and diseases, allows plants to be shaped and also encourages healthy, vigorous new growth.


When it comes to pruning Australian native plants, we sometimes think they're a bit sensitive because they don't have a long history of human intervention that many exotic plants do. But the reality is, in the wild, native plants are pruned constantly by animals and weather. By pruning them properly in the garden, they will respond really well.



Jane says, "Pruning is one of the simplest ways to ensure that your garden is healthy and well maintained, and native plants, like any other plant, will respond really well to a good prune. So don't be intimidated. Grab your secateurs and go out and have a bit of fun."


TIP PRUNING FOR BUSHIER BUSHES

Jane uses shears to remove the top couple of centimetres from each branch. Behind each pruned tip, at least two new shoots will grow, which means a bushier plant.

Good for Grevillea, Westringia, Leucophyta and Thryptomene species and cultivars in autumn, until the end of April.

Tip pruning has the added bonus of extending many native plants' lifespans.

PRUNING TO PREVENT WEIGHT

Harder tip-pruning - removing the top 30-40cm of top-heavy plants - will alleviate branch weight and reduce the likelihood of accidental breakage.

HARD PRUNING

Pruning back by half or to the ground might seem a bit drastic, but many of our native plants have adapted to regrow after the whole plant has been removed by fire or animal attack.

It's best for rejuvenating plants that have become straggly and unkempt. Cut back to any point where there are new shoots.

This is a good option for Myrtaceous plants like the smaller Eucalyptus, Bottlebrushes and Lilypillies, and Rutaceous plants like Correas or Philothecas.

PRUNING CLUMPING NATIVES

Clumping natives like Poas and Lomandras generally look pretty scruffy at the end of summer, with too much dead thatch. Jane tidies them up by manually pulling out the dead tissue and cutting the whole clump to just a few centimetres from the ground.

Similarly, flowering clumping natives like Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos spp.) need just as much pruning. Jane likes to clip off the flowering stems at the base, then cutting the entire clump right back.

FEATURE PLANTS

COASTAL ROSEMARY - Westringia 'Sea Mist'

DWARF RIVER WATTLE - Acacia cognata 'Limelight'

WAXFLOWER - Crowea exalata

LONG-LEAF WAX FLOWER - Philotheca myoporoides

LOMANDRA - Lomandra 'Lime Tuff'

KANGAROO PAW - Anigozanthos cv.



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