pruning fuchsia

Hi everyone
I have four quite large fuchsia's in my front garden and they have become over grown i was wondering when is the best time to cut them back?
I also have a large willow tree in my back yard and also wondering when it's best to cut back and re-shape?
Many thx Sean

 

Hi Sean,

I can't help with fuschia pruning, I'm afraid, but I have quite a few willows in my garden and think I know a bit about them (although there are many different willows, but I think their needs should all be the same). They should be cut back during the dormant season, between November and March. With willow you can even cut them right back to the trunk and they will grow back again in the spring/summer. There's a fashion at the moment for doing this annually or every second year and using the rods for weaving living garden structures because if you plant a newly cut rod into the ground it will root and grow. I'm thinking of trying to persuade my OH to build a living willow arbour, but think he will be very unenthusiastic.

Sue

 

I haven't got any willows, but I do have several hardy fuchsia bushes in my hedge which get attacked with the hedge trimmer (to stop the hedge getting too unruly)two or three times over the summer without any obvious detriment to their flowering ability. If they are on their own then you can cut them back quite hard in early spring and you'll get lots of new growth.
The bushes in my hedge will get their last trim in a week or so. I haven't yet tried eating the seed pods/berries as suggested in a previous thread.

Another Sue

 

I grow hardy fuchsia and would suggst you leave well alone til the last of the bad frosts i.e. about april time - and then cut them down to ground level. Whilst they can produce leaves and flowers on stems below that cut back by the frost doesn't tend to look all that good. The stems protect the crown over winter, and the new growth will quickly make height.

I did try leaving some stems on Genii one year just to see how it did - I was not impressed a lot of wood, and not enough leaf and flower. Magenallica gracillis will form a glorious bush 4 foot high dripping in flowers in just one season. The others like Mrs Popple and Brutus will be less high - but I haven't found leaving the stems means any bigger - cos all the growth was from the crown - having been cut back by the frost.

 

can you eat the berries off any fuchsia?

 

paul, see comments on page 4,SteveW had his tasty fun with this topic :eek: :D

 

Hi Paul

Yes fuchsia fruits are edible, if you see the topic concerned as in paladins post then I think I put a few links to sites stating this

On the downside, so far only me likes them :D most people seem to think they leave a peppery aftertaste

I find the big juicy over ripe purple ones are best

 

brill guys, thanks very much

 

always leave dead branches on hardy fuchsias left in the garden. In the late spring you will then see shoots coming from the ground. This is the time to cut the old branches back to the ground. Doesn't look pretty but the old growth will pretect the new growth. You will lose all old leaves.

 

Thank you all for the great advise!
Happy gardening

 

Hi all, just joined, need some advice on fuschias i have 2 large bushes in our garden of which have been planted about 8 years ago and i don't think they have ever been pruned, i want to cut them back as they are taking over the lawn, is now a good time to prune them and how do i do it?

 

anyone?

 

Don't panic masterofinsanity, (love that name!)

I'm not qualified to answer this, but to give a quick answer I also have a bush about 8 years old that has been really rough treated and should have died years ago, but is as tough as old boots, I would think your best bet would be to trim it back just enough to clear your grass at low level and keep the flowers, and hard prune it back in early spring.

Also take cuttings in autumn just in case!

 

i would just go ahead and chop it but its the missus fave and was given to her by her late mother in law so if i kill it i'm in big trouble! also i was going to ask if there's anything i can do with the bits i cut off, years ago we just put some rooting powder on the ends and away they went, is this still the case?

 

The young fresh shoots (without the flowers) will probably be ok, never tried it at this time, but I don't think it matters as long as they look fresh and healthy. Rooting powder, never use it, certain plants need it I think, but most plants better off without. More trouble with too much powder than none at all! IMHO

If it's good enough for Carole Klein it's good enough for me!

Oh, and as somebody said on here, if you take one cutting, it fails, take 10 and they all come up!

Don't worry about killing it, no matter what you do, I will guarantee it will be back up next year, but there is no need to loose the flowers right now, I would do the drastic work in the winter when its dormant.