Cutting oleanders – timing and instructions

Oleander owes its melodious name to the combination of ‘olea’, the Latin term for olive tree, and the Greek ‘rhododendron’. The botanists could not have chosen a more apt title. The leathery, deep green, glossy foliage resembles olive tree leaves, while the flowers are actually reminiscent of a rhododendron.

The right time

As a typical summer bloomer, an oleander buds in the previous year. It follows that the ideal time for pruning is in early spring.

• The oleander is at least two years old
• A slightly overcast day with dry weather is perfect
• Under no circumstances should temperatures be around freezing

If you rashly reach for the scissors in autumn, you rob the ornamental shrub of a large part of its coming flowering splendor. This circumstance sometimes puts hobby gardeners in an awkward position. If the loving care caused the flowering bush to grow exuberantly over the course of the summer, the available space in the winter quarters may not be sufficient. Before you deny the oleander a sheltered space for hibernation, there is nothing wrong with pruning it a little. The more conservative you are, the better for the oleander. In addition, every pruning measure before the winter break encourages the roots to sprout much too early. In the worst case, the rose laurel invests its entire energy reserves in it, which are then no longer available in spring. The result would be a dying ornamental shrub that can hardly be saved. You should therefore always carry out the main cut in the following spring.

Instructions for the shape and maintenance cut

At the latest when the oleander begins to sprout again, it is time to get out the cutting tool. Disinfect, sharpen and lubricate the scissors carefully. Do not forget to put on protective clothing, gloves and eye protection, because the poisonous content of a rose laurel should not be underestimated. In addition, the flexible branches tend to snap back. Without adequate glasses, such a mishap is easy to spot. The first step is careful thinning. Here’s how to do it:

• Cut off dead branches close to the roots
• Cut criss-crossing and drooping branches at the base
• Completely remove obviously diseased shoots
• Cut one to three of the oldest branches at the base

If you now step back a few steps, you will see a much more airy oleander with optimized access of sun and oxygen to the inside of the bush. This is followed by the fine work, which requires a little sense of proportion if a harmonious silhouette is the goal.

• Cut shoots on the oleander that are too long only to the point where the next bud starts
• Always position the scissors 1-3 mm above a bud in an inclined position
• Breaking out instead of cutting promotes the natural appearance
• Small stubs may remain, because the rose laurel will sprout again from them

Ideally, the tips of the crown form a semicircle at the end. You can easily do this by cutting the outer branches of the oleander a little shorter than the inner shoots. In between, take a look at the contour or make a template in advance as a guide.

The deeper a cut is made into the old wood, the more difficult it is for the oleander to sprout again. However, this premise is not always to be taken into account. Especially if a shape and maintenance cut has been missed for a few years, you cannot avoid a radical rejuvenation cut.

Instructions for a taper cut

A variety of reasons can make a rejuvenation cut on the oleander unavoidable. If the shrub is extremely senile from the inside out, completely infested with pests, powdery mildew or other diseases, only a radical pruning can bring salvation.

• Cut off all branches except for the finger-thick shoots at the base
• These branches are shortened by half
• If possible, do not cut into the old wood
• The harder the pruning, the more lush the new shoots

After a rejuvenation pruning, this year’s flowering will most likely fail. However, since a certain number of vital shoots remain, the enchanting oleander blossom should be able to be admired again next year, at the latest in the year after.

Combination: rejuvenation pruning and upbringing to a standard

A creative variant of the rejuvenation uses the negative consequences of the balding for a meaningful transformation of the oleander into a standard. Where the regular pruning has been neglected for some time or carried out too timidly, a rose laurel develops powerful, leafless stems. According to conventional methods, these should be completely cut off in favor of the narrower, vital shoots as part of the rejuvenation. If you have always dreamed of a standard oleander, now is the best opportunity to create one yourself. For this purpose, pot the rose laurel in spring. With a saw, cut up the root ball so that a single, straight trunk with root system remains. This section serves as the starting material for an oleander standard.

First, pot the trunk in fresh substrate. All superfluous shoots are then removed along the trunk up to the desired crown height. As much as possible at this early stage, trim the top to shape. The structure does not yet reach a perfect standard crown. You can achieve this by using string to spread several branches away from the trunk and tie them a little lower down.

In the first few weeks after this variant of a rejuvenating cut, the appearance is not very decorative. In the course of the new season, the oleander is developing noticeably in the desired direction. It is important to note that the cords do not squeeze or grow into branches that are becoming thicker.

Sit on the stick

If a rose laurel no longer has a few viable shoots to offer, the last solution before clearing is the most extreme pruning. At the same time, it is the simplest cut ever. Since there are no blossoms to be saved for the next season, there is nothing to be said against carrying out the measure before clearing. This saves space in the winter quarters and reduces maintenance work during the winter to a minimum. Without exception, all shoots are trimmed to a height of 10 cm to 20 cm. All leaves and weeds that are still on the bush are removed.

Experienced hobby gardeners now use pure paraffin oil, a natural winter spray. If it is generously applied to the oleander at the beginning of the hibernation and 2 to 3 times afterwards, a strong new shoot will start in the spring. As a supporting measure, repot the rootstock in fresh substrate and start in March with a targeted application of fertilizer. Experience teaches that it is not uncommon for an oleander to double its volume in the next season given this intensive care.

treat cuts

Experience has shown that cuts the size of a two-euro coin are not difficult to treat. The oleander will close the wound on its own over time. Meanwhile, to keep sneaky pests or pathogens from settling there, seal the wound with a little plain charcoal ash. This measure also stops any juice flow. Please note the high poison content of the rose laurel when doing this work.

If a larger wound has developed, the use of a wound sealant is recommended. After cutting dead wood or removing old branches, this measure is not necessary, since plant sap hardly or not at all flows through them anyway.

The right cutting tool

The quality of the tool essentially determines the successful course of gardening. This is even more true if you are pruning the oleander. If you grab the next best pruning shears, you sometimes make your work unnecessarily difficult, which ultimately affects the habitus of your valuable rose laurel. If you pay a little attention to the different designs of scissors, it will not be difficult to decide on the ideal model.

Scissors for one-handed use

As long as an oleander is still young and is pruned regularly, it has a richly branched system of narrow shoots. A pair of scissors that can be operated with one hand is sufficient to cut these. In this regard, experts distinguish between anvil shears and bypass shears:

• Anvil shears press the blade onto a flat surface to cut through the wood
• Advantage: better power transmission
• Disadvantage: possible crushing and injury of the branches
• Bypass shears work with two sharp blades
• Advantage: exact cut
• Disadvantage: more effort

In addition, a distinction is made between models for left-handers and right-handers as well as for small or large hands that use scissors.

Scissors for two-hand operation

Over time, an oleander develops stronger branches that even the sharpest one-handed scissors cannot cope with. In this case, garden shears should be available for two-handed operation. Using two long lever arms, such a model offers optimal power transmission to cut thick branches up to 8 cm thick. In addition, these pruning shears are available as anvil and bypass models.

In order to cut a man-high oleander, the use of pruning shears with telescopic arms is recommended. This design saves you the tedious and risky work from a ladder. The extensions are simply pulled out of the handle and later pushed back in there.

Conclusion
Without an annual shape and maintenance cut, every oleander loses its magnificent silhouette within a few years. On the other hand, if you give the pruning a fixed date in the care plan, you can enjoy the picturesque, luxuriantly thriving rose laurel for a long time. The ideal time for the measure is spring, just before the fresh shoots begin. Thin out, completely remove one or two old branches and prune young shoots down to the next bud, and the job is done. If regular pruning is missed, an oleander will bare. Only the rejuvenation cut can still repair this dilemma. Of course, the next bloom will not be in sight. If the regeneration does not bring the desired result, clearing remains as an alternative, or the oleander is planted on the stick.