How to Prune a Smoke Bush
The smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria) is an interesting-looking shrub that has beautiful foliage and airy blooms with "smoky" clouds of hairs growing around them. The healthiest and most attractive smoke bushes are those that receive regular pruning. Without proper pruning, smoke bush will develop an unhealthy, "leggy" appearance. Pruning your smoke bush is rather simple, and the time of year that you prune it is often more important than your pruning technique. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Prune your smoke bush in late or mid-July. Smoke bushes develop the buds for the next year during the current year's blooming season. If you prune your smoke bush too late in the growing season, you'll remove the buds and won't have any blooms the following year.
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Cut off the dead, crowded and crossing branches inside the smoke bush. Remove these branches at their growth point on the main stems. This will allow more light inside the bush, promoting new, healthy growth.
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Prune your smoke bush to retain its natural shape instead of creating a geometrical shape. Pruning in such a way that promotes the natural shape will help to remove fewer flower buds.
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Shear your smoke bush to reduce its size if you have a rather large smoke bush that needs heading back. Remove the outer branches to promote dense growth at the tips of the branches. Shearing forces growth to the outer part of the smoke bush and prevents growth inside the bush.
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Space out your cuts so that you're pruning every other or every third stem. For heavier pruning of "leggy" bushes, remove one-third of the leggy stems. The following year, remove the next third.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're more interested in the smoke bush's foliage than its flowers, prune the bush back to 12 to 18 inches from the ground in late or mid-March. This severe type of pruning known as "stooling" will keep the smoke bush compact and force growth of extra large leaves.
Don't prune a "smoke tree" the same way as a smoke bush. The smoke tree, or Cotinus obovatus, doesn't require the same regular pruning as the smoke bush.
