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Pruning - Pittosporum Tenuifolium Silver Queen - In Planters

gp5WOz2-5Ngp5WOz2-5N Posts: 8
in Plants
Hello.

On my roof terrace I have 8 Pittosporum Tenuifolium Silver Queen plants in 4 large wooden planters situated along the perimeter wall (2 plants in each planter). The reason is for both privacy and to allow a decent amount of sunlight through, as opposed to a dense hedge.

As can be seen on the first photo the bottom two thirds of the plants are void of leaves... apart from the odd ones at the end of leggy stems the leaves are situated at the top third.

I would like to know if it's possible to hard prune them into their thick trunks quite low down in the hope that new branches grow with leaves covering the bottom area as well as the rest?

The plants are about to begin this year's new growth.

Interestingly I have two different types of Pittosporum Tenuifolium Silver Queen's and the problem is only with this variety, which has small leaves and dark wood. Photo 2 shows the other variety which has never been a problem, having larger leaves and lighter wood - it has enough branches hanging downward and the larger leaves to create perfect privacy without being too dense therefore allowing light through. Maybe it has something to do with the position, as the variety that is fine is along a different aspect.

Photo 1 (problem plants):




Photo 2 (OK plants):




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Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited April 2023
    @gp5WOz2-5N I understand they can be pruned but I have never tried it. I wonder if the ones that are struggling suffered from a cold blast of frosty air over the winter. On a roof terrace in containers they would be vulnerable. Years ago they wouldn't have survived the winter here at all. You just didn't see them for sale.

     They can also improve I believe as the season progresses. I do know the ones with darker leaves are more tender but I don't know about darker stems. I guess it is possible they are less hardy or could be less protected? I would also check that they are not root bound. They would all benefit from a top dressing of compost.
    Ultimately they may be better off in the ground,hope another poster can help you.
    Not my subject as you can see! Welcome.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    We grow about 8 varieties of Pittosporum. They can trimmed back a reasonable amount, but we find they don't quickly recover from very hard pruning, and end up looking awful for ages. If you really have to do it, I would do it no later than now, and be prepared for ugly and bare plants for 6-12 months or so. You would also need to give them regular water and feed, to help them recover.

    Our weakest growing varieties are Silver Dream and Silver Queen, and I find them much too bare and sparse. I think yours are suffering from the recent terrible Winter (for the first time we lost a Pittosporum, and almost lost several others), and they are quite large plants for the size of your planters. Most Pittosporum, other than the dwarf varieties, want to be small to medium sized trees. 

    If you want to keep them in their current location, I would trim back the top foliage by several inches, to encourage more branching/foliage lower down. Nothing too severe though, as you will need to leave enough foliage for them to photosynthesise. A weekly liquid feed (like seaweed feed), would also help. 
  • gp5WOz2-5Ngp5WOz2-5N Posts: 8
    edited April 2023
    KeenOnGreen said:
    We grow about 8 varieties of Pittosporum. They can trimmed back a reasonable amount, but we find they don't quickly recover from very hard pruning, and end up looking awful for ages. If you really have to do it, I would do it no later than now, and be prepared for ugly and bare plants for 6-12 months or so. You would also need to give them regular water and feed, to help them recover.

    Our weakest growing varieties are Silver Dream and Silver Queen, and I find them much too bare and sparse. I think yours are suffering from the recent terrible Winter (for the first time we lost a Pittosporum, and almost lost several others), and they are quite large plants for the size of your planters. Most Pittosporum, other than the dwarf varieties, want to be small to medium sized trees. 

    If you want to keep them in their current location, I would trim back the top foliage by several inches, to encourage more branching/foliage lower down. Nothing too severe though, as you will need to leave enough foliage for them to photosynthesise. A weekly liquid feed (like seaweed feed), would also help. 

    Thanks for your message.

    Unfortunately I decided to crack on and hard prune them before I received your message (I had already waited 6 days for a response on another forum but none came).

    I've completely messed up. I don't know what came over me. I really don't know what to do now. I bought each one about 10 years ago for £70! I need a stiff drink.

    Should I wait it out? Until they get to 4 feet the terrace is pretty much a space we can't use as it's so open to the outside.

    Or should I pull them out, find somewhere for them in a family garden, and buy something new such as a dwarf variety? Whatever I have needs to be about 4 foot high and a 50cm spread, nice looking, evergreen, and not dense/hedge like.

    In your experience, if we left them, where and how would new growth take place?





  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited April 2023
    @gp5WOz2-5N I will let @KeenOnGreen on green offer help but personally I think you may loose them all together. If that is the case perhaps you could consider something tougher. Are you in the south of the UK?
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,960
    Aw, I'd think they were goners now.
  • gp5WOz2-5Ngp5WOz2-5N Posts: 8
    There was nothing wrong with them. I've had them since 2014. Last Winter turned some of the leaves a bit yellow, that's all. They have been perfect, apart from the lack of leaves toward the bottom of the smaller leaf variety, which got worse each year as they grew upward and the trunks got thicker. I'm now beginning to think it's probably normal they do that anyway. They may have gotten too mature for the planters, so maybe it was time for them to be replaced. I just feel sick I took so much away.

    I feel our best option would probably be to replace them, but I would probably choose the same thing again; maybe a different variety. I'm in Surrey.


  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @gp5WOz2-5N Milder winters have made gardeners more complacent, believing that bounderies can be pushed. Then we had the wet/ freeze at the end of 2022. Pittosporum, Hebes, Cordylines, Phormiums all evergreens, have suffered or died and all from the southern hemisphere.

    If your plants have been in the same compost for the past nine years I think they have done well. They were under stress it would seem as they were starting to defoliate. 
    Water and feed is also important for plants grown in containers.

    The problem is evergreens planted in a site that can be affected by cold winds will always be exposed to the possibility of wind burn.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    They may recover - the pettosporum here are tough as old boots.
    I do think you could do with deeper planters...
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    They aren't hardy everywhere anyway, so it also depends where you live, as to how well they come through winters. I expect they're normally very easy in Surrey, but the sudden freeze has seen off quite a lot of plants, as @GardenerSuze has said.
    I have to correct you though - there aren't two varieties of P. Silver Queen. Silver Queen is a variety, so if the two lots of plants were different, it's down to how they were growing - ie the site. Exposure etc. 
    When you prune them, it's best done lightly and regularly. Cutting them back hard isn't ideal, no matter where you are. Anything in a container needs more care - especially regarding the soil and water/nutrition, and especially shrubs. 
    I think you need to find an alternative. Those are highly unlikely to recover, and even if they do, it'll take a long time. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • gp5WOz2-5Ngp5WOz2-5N Posts: 8
    edited May 2023
    I've looked after them very well. Over the 10 years I've had them I've clipped them each year, sometimes twice, and given them a new top dressing of soil and then some mulch all at the right time of year. I also feed them with the Fish blood powder stuff. I semi-hard pruned them about 4 years ago which worked fine although we did have to put up with no screening for about a year. I've watered them whenever necessary.

    I do think they have gotten too large for the planters as the roots are beginning to show above the soil and the mounds from the plant bases are rising above the top of the planters. The main branches are very thick. So I suppose it was time for them to come out and be planted in the ground although I could have got away with a couple more years. This couldn't come at a worse time as money is tight. The thought of shelling out £600 for 8 new plants is eye watering. I've really cocked up.

    As the terrace wall isn't very high we are so exposed when being out there now, not to mention the safety aspect has been severely compromised. There's no way I can wait years for this lot to grow again, if they do that is.

    Can anyone suggest any alternative that would be cheaper? I considered Fargesia Rufa Bamboo but I don't think it would suit the Victorian wall.


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