Q. How and when should we prune our lantana and
oleanders?
oleanders?
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| This is a Lantana I saw pruned by a local company. Leaving this much wood remaining will make it very “twiggy” at the base. You can actually prune it much closer to the ground in this. |
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| You can see from this close-up that I took last February that suckering can occur much lower on the stems of Lantana. Don’t be afraid to cut it close to the ground. Leave about 1 inch for suckering. |
A. Both of these plants are pruned during the winter
months since they both produce flowers on new growth during the summer months.
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| After pruning, apply a high nitrogen and high phosphorus fertilizer to push new leaf and stem growth and dark green color. The phosphorus will help to promote flowering. Flowering will not occur until the top growth is large enough and comes into balance with the existing root size. This is sometimes referred to as the root to shoot ratio. |
I would
delay pruning them until late winter (late January) unless you don’t mind
looking at “dead” space (the space is not occupied by anything). For
lantana it normally freezes during winter months and you have a choice whether
to leave the dead top of the plant in place or cut it down to the ground,
leaving one inch of stems remaining to support the new growth beginning in
February.
delay pruning them until late winter (late January) unless you don’t mind
looking at “dead” space (the space is not occupied by anything). For
lantana it normally freezes during winter months and you have a choice whether
to leave the dead top of the plant in place or cut it down to the ground,
leaving one inch of stems remaining to support the new growth beginning in
February.
 |
| You can prune oleander close to the ground, just like Lantana. Cut it back to within 2 to 3 inches of the soil surface. This is the time of year to do it up until about the end of January when it begins to push new growth all by itself. |
Because
the roots are fully grown, alive and healthy you will see very rapid growth in
the spring. Fertilize the pruned plant in late January or early February to
encourage new growth and flowers. Use a fertilizer that supports flowering
plants such as a rose fertilizer blend or other fertilizer for flowering
plants.
 |
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You can see from this picture that new growth is beginning to sucker from the base just like Lantana. Apply a fertilizer near the base of the plant close to a source of water. Use the same fertilizer as the Lantana. A rose type fertilizer is fine.
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Oleander is pruned at the same time of year as lantana because it also blooms on new growth, not older growth. You can chose to remove 1/3 of the
plant by cutting these largest stems to the ground for renewed growth at the
base or you can cut the entire plant to the ground and let it regrow. Your
choice. Either way you will see luxurious growth and lots of flowers next year.
Again use a fertilizer that supports flower growth and apply it early in the
spring.
plant by cutting these largest stems to the ground for renewed growth at the
base or you can cut the entire plant to the ground and let it regrow. Your
choice. Either way you will see luxurious growth and lots of flowers next year.
Again use a fertilizer that supports flower growth and apply it early in the
spring.
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| This is an example of a fertilizer that will push leaf and stem growth and dark green color. You would apply this immediately after pruning and water it in. A 10 pound bag sells locally for $7.95 |
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| This is an example of a fertilizer that it increases the number of flowers and their size. It should be applied about 4 to 6 weeks later. A 10 pound bag also sells for $7.95 . |
Where can I get those fertilizers?
Those fertilizers are available at viragrow in Las Vegas.
Those fertilizers are available at viragrow in Las Vegas.
This is great information thank you. We thought our gardener went crazy on our "not even a year old" backyard landscaping we placed around our new pool last May 2015! We were a bit freaking out to go into the back yard and see every Lantana plant pruned down to little brown sticks in December! This was very informative. Now I want to make sure next month they will fertilize to promote new growth, but I think it's safe to say, at this point, they know what they are doing! 🙂 Thank you for your advice/experience and sharing it! 🙂