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Trimming the mock orange in the fall allows you to rejuvenate the shrub and provide it with more active growth for the next season. If you follow the basic rules, then pruning in the fall will be completely safe for the plant.
Is it possible to cut mock orange in autumn
A shrub called mock orange from the Hortensia family, which is often also called garden jasmine, is prone to rapid growth. Therefore, the plant needs mandatory pruning, and it can be carried out not only in spring, but also in autumn.
After the end of the flowering period, shortly before the onset of cold weather, the shrub plunges into a dormant state. A video of mock orange trimming in the fall confirms that it is possible to cut it during this period – it is quite safe if you follow proven recommendations.
Goals and objectives of the autumn pruning of mock orange
If in the spring the shrub is cut mainly in order to remove all diseased, weakened and broken branches of the plant, then the autumn pruning of the garden mock-up helps to achieve several goals at once:
- Plant rejuvenation. If the mock orange has been growing in a summer cottage for a long time, then, most likely, its flowering has become less plentiful, and its decorative effect has noticeably decreased. Pruning helps to replace the skeletal base of the plant and leave mainly young shoots that will quickly start growing in the new spring and bring spectacular and generous flowering.
- Crown thinning. If the branches are strongly thickened, then the central part of the crown receives almost no sunlight and oxygen. This negatively affects flowering – the shrub lays fewer flower buds and cannot please with a special decorative effect.
- Plant healing. With a thickened crown and a large number of extra branches, the mock orange spends strength and nutrients to maintain unnecessary growth and extra branches. Accordingly, the plant has much less strength left for flowering – few flower buds are formed, the flowers become smaller and quickly crumble to the ground.
- Formation of beautiful outlines. By nature, the mock orange grows its green mass rather unevenly, if you do not cut the bush, it will quickly become one-sided and unsightly. Thinning and shaping help give the plant a beautiful silhouette.
Types of trimming
Shrub pruning carried out in the fall can be divided into several categories:
- Supportive and sanitary. It must be carried out annually – during the shearing, all dried, diseased, twisted branches are cut off, which in vain take away strength from the plant. The removed parts of the mock orange after pruning are collected and destroyed.
- Formative and supportive. Such a haircut is carried out as needed – it is not necessary to do it every year. During the formation, the shrub is properly thinned out, excess shoots are removed and space is freed up in the central part of the plant so that the crown receives more fresh air and sunlight.
- Rejuvenating. Pruning of this type is rarely carried out – only when the flowering of the mock orange is noticeably reduced, and a complete renewal of the shrub is required.
In some years, only one type of pruning is used in the fall, but sometimes different types are combined with each other.
How to cut mock orange in autumn
On the video of pruning the mock orange in the fall, it becomes clear that it is important not only to cut the bush on time, but also not to harm the plant. Knowing the basic rules will help make pruning safe for the plant.
Recommended dates
When pruning in the fall, it is important not to miss the timing of cutting the plant. Pruning should be done after the plant has completed its growing season and is ready for the cold. However, the temperature should not yet fall below – 2-4 ° C, otherwise the wood of the shrub will freeze, and the haircut will harm it.
Preparation of tools and materials
At any time of the year, pruning is a procedure that injures the plant to one degree or another. In autumn, it is the safest, however, even during this period, the mock orange may suffer if its shoots are not cut neatly enough.
To cut a mock orange in the fall, you will need the following tools:
- pruner and lopper, with their help, thin and medium branches of the plant are removed;
- a set of hacksaws and saws for wood, they are used to remove really old and thick branches of a bush.
You will also need to prepare a garden pitch or any other specialized putty. After pruning, shrub sections will need to be processed, otherwise the branches may suffer from fungus or decay.
Pruning schemes for mock orange in autumn
Basically, in the fall, they practice 2 schemes for pruning the mock orange in the fall for beginners.
- Gentle pruning for shaping and gradual rejuvenation. Shortly before the cold weather, 2 or 3 old branches of the shrub are cut off completely or to the largest of the side shoots. At the same time, the same number of branches from the young growth should remain. The following autumn, a similar procedure will need to be repeated and thus, within a few years, the entire skeleton of the shrub will be renewed.
- Radical anti-aging pruning of mock orange in autumn. Almost all branches are cut to the very ground, leaving only 5-6 strong young shoots, which are also shortened to about half a meter. If desired, the old mock orange can be cut off completely “under the stump” in the fall, in which case growth from the root will begin in the spring, and in 2-3 years the shrub will fully recover.
- Maintenance – During this autumn mock orange pruning scheme, only a small amount of old shrub branches are removed and the center of the crown is thinned out.
Every year in the fall, during pruning, all useless branches are eliminated – dry and broken over the summer.
How to cut mock orange in autumn
It is necessary to cut the mock orange for the winter according to a simple algorithm that is not difficult even for a novice gardener.
- First of all, it is necessary to cut off damaged, twisted, fungus-infested or insect-infested branches with a pruner and other tools.
- After that, shoots older than 5 years old, which no longer participate in annual flowering, are removed with hacksaws and saws.
- Next, shoots are pruned that protrude too far beyond the borders of the bush, they negatively affect the decorative appearance of the mock orange.
- Then the crown is thinned out, that is, the intersecting and intertwining branches in the center of the bush are cut, since such shoots prevent each other from developing.
- At the last stage, they get rid of the shoots growing towards the inside of the shrub.
If in the summer the old inflorescences were not cut off on the bush of the plant, then during the pruning in the fall they also need to be removed.
Shrub care after pruning
After autumn pruning, garden jasmine needs care that will help it safely endure the winter cold and recover with the onset of spring.
- First of all, it is necessary to remove all debris around the cut shrub – fallen leaves, cut branches and other plant debris. If this is not done, insects and fungal spores that are dangerous for the plant can start in organic residues – under the cover of foliage and twigs, it will be easier for them to survive frosts.
- In autumn, after pruning, garden jasmine is recommended to be fed. Under the bush, it is necessary to add a small amount of superphosphate, potassium and wood ash, shallowly planting fertilizers into the soil and lightly watering.
- The land around the shrub after top dressing must be mulched with compost, manure or spruce branches. This will protect the roots of garden jasmine from freezing.
Conclusion
Pruning a mock orange in the fall, subject to the basic rules, is completely safe and allows you not only to maintain the strength of the plant, but also to rejuvenate it and give it a decorative look. The most important thing is not to miss the right time for a haircut, and also follow proven patterns.