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Pittosporum Pruning Dilemma

ddo101ddo101 Posts: 31
in Plants
Hi all. I have a young Pittosporum Winkled Blue hedge planted autumn 2022.  I did a bit of light pruning during the growth season in 2023 and left a final prune for the season too late,  worried that a frost was near, so didn't. They've really taken off and have established well but are in desperate need of a good prune to start shaping my hedge.  My plan was to give that a go once we're comfortably past the final frost (Greater London).  But I've noticed with the good sunshine we've been having and a handful of mild days, they've awakened and are starting to bud for new growth.  I know not to be too fooled by weather in March and be careful not to jump the gun. I'm just worried if I leave it too much longer I'll need to take quite a bit off to maintain the target height. Any thoughts?  Go for a prune now or don't jump the gun and give it a few more weeks until early April?  Thanks!

Posts

  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    I’d leave it a while . You don’t want to chance it as frosts are not out of the question just yet .
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Can you google and find out the average date of the last frost in London? That might give you a clue perhaps.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's not likely to become huge over the next 6 weeks or so, so it would be better to just leave it. They're perfectly happy being cut back quite far, and as that one seems to be happy enough in your conditions, it shouldn't be a problem.
    If you decide to do a trim now, a bit of light frost isn't likely to cause much damage - ie to around minus 1 or 2 on the odd day, it's usually only a problem if it's very mild and wet and there's a very large amount of growth, then a sudden drop in temperature to below zero for a long time, but even then - it would only affect the outer layer, and you can trim that back later. It's not likely to damage it long term   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JAYJARDINJAYJARDIN Posts: 256
    I'd leave it for a bit too, those London frosts can come along at any time in march/April!
    I have a Pittosporum Tenuifolium and I don't prune it until its had its flowers i about May.
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