Lost in My Oleanders
Hi Jen, What to do what to do. I planted some oleanders last year and they are thriving. I read somewhere that they should be cut back in late August or early September. What is the best way to prune these? I read something about cutting below the three leaves! What and how do you determine that? Lost in my oleanders!!! Please help
Hi Yolanda,
Oleanders are evergreen shrubs that can be pruned basically anytime of the year. The best time is when they are not in bloom. Cut back to desired height and let the spring flush it with new growth and produce the desired look. Some say the oleander is pruned after blooming and should be pruned by the end of August or early September to give any new growth sufficient time to harden off before winter. Houston has very mild winters so this probably doesn’t matter as much. I would only prune your oleanders if you think they are just overgrown and ugly otherwise little pruning is required to maintain their natural shape.A rule of thumb is not to prune more than a third of the existing foliage and to carefully prune stems so that removal is evenly distributed for a balanced look.
By cutting back just above the leaf nodes of the Oleander it will make your shrub very full. This is the section where three leaves come out of the branch. By cutting it here, you will be forcing new branching at each of the leaf nodes (joints). Three new branches will grow from the section that once had three leaves. By doing this, it will increase the branch threefold.
One thing to note: all parts of oleanders are highly poisonous. I usually wear long sleeves and gloves to prune mine back. Even the woody parts are poisonous, so don’t go putting your hand in your mouth.
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Yolanda says:
Thanks for the great info.