Timing is everything to get the prettiest show.
Camellias are aristocrats of the garden.
Some form compact mounds, but the majority grow upright into the shape and size of a small tree.
Credit: Peter Frank Edwards
Inevitably, many grow bigger than you want and you have to prune.
But when is the best time?
That depends on the species ofcamellia.
It forms a dense plant 10 to 20 feet tall and wide, depending on the selection and location.
Flowers appear from mid-winter to early spring.
When to prune:Prune after the last flowers fall, usually in spring or very early summer.
This gives the plant plenty of time to set new flower buds for the following year.
Sasanqua Camellia
(Camellia sasanqua) is the second most popular species.
Flowers usually open inlate summer, fall, and early winter.
When to prune:As with common camellia, prune soon after its last blossoms drop.
When you prune, shorten branches by cutting back to a leaf or a larger branch.
Also, thin out the inside growth so that sun and air can reach all the leaves.
Do this by removing dead, crossing, wayward, or rubbing branches.
Upright-growing sasanquas are less thick and blobby, but the same principles apply.
Bare, limbed-up camellia trunks sport the same sculptural aspect as those of crepe myrtles trained into tree forms.
