pruning an old, woody Fuchsia

okedoke

There's a Fuchsia in my garden that is very woody (lot of wood, very little green shoots and few blossoms this year). I only moved into the house recently but it looks like it hasn't been pruned in a long time.

Can I safely prune deep into the wood in the spring? Will it regenerate?

I'll post a pic when i'm home

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Wait until new shoots appear in Spring and prune to just above a pair of leaf buds, three orfour inches from the ground. New shoots will come from below ground level as a result. Do this annually.

Hoof Hearted2

Edison Sharp Stockiness wrote: »

Wait until new shoots appear in Spring and prune to just above a pair of leaf buds, three orfour inches from the ground. New shoots will come from below ground level as a result. Do this annually.

I'm sorry but this advice in nonsense, fuchsia is one of those few plants that you'd be hard pressed to kill by pruning.
OP prune away to your hearts content, there is no set time of year or set method of pruning a fuchsia, they are virtually indestructible.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Hoof Hearted2 wrote: »

I'm sorry but this advice in nonsense, fuchsia is one of those few plants that you'd be hard pressed to kill by pruning.
OP prune away to your hearts content, there is no set time of year or set method of pruning a fuchsia, they are virtually indestructible.

I'm sorry, but apart from you disagreeing on the time of year, what is nonsense in my advice? Or any different to what you fundamentally said yourself? It has worked for me for over 50 years so, while not what you would do, it is most certainly not nonsense. Pruning at leaf shoot emergence allows a tidier and better shaped pruning.

Hoof Hearted2

Edison Sharp Stockiness wrote: »

I'm sorry, but apart from you disagreeing on the time of year, what is nonsense in my advice? Or any different to what you fundamentally said yourself? It has worked for me for over 50 years so, while not what you would do, it is most certainly not nonsense. Pruning at leaf shoot emergence allows a tidier and better shaped pruning.

I'm Sorry your sorry, but all of your advice is nonsense but specifically your advice about pruning just above a pair of leaf buds and 3 or 4 inches from the ground and subsequently the plant will produce new shots from below ground.
It doesn't matter to what height you prune the fuchsia, and the method of pruning also isn't of concern.
Now if you enjoy the pruning process as you described, well then fair enough, carry on, but claiming credit for the regrowth of a fuchsia as a result of your specific pruning is nonsense and is akin to the Arabs claiming credit for the deserts, it does not matter how you prune a fuchsia it will 99.999% of the time regrow from the remaining branches.

delly

Lets play nice folks. You may have different pruning techniques, but you can't rubbish someone else's if they say it works for them. Disagreeing is fine, but how you put it across means the world.

Oldtree

I have a wild white fuchsia the get quite big and I usually wait till spring to prune it back, after shoots and buds have started to burst.

The main reason for this is that the cold in a past winter blew the bark off, somthing like what happened to the grissalina a few years back. The bark freezes and then there is a burst of heat the following day and the bark just cracks all over the place leading to major dieback. I find this effect can happen in smaller doses over the plant most years thus I wait till spring.

It is a late flowerer and as a norm I would prune after flowering, but in this case it is too late in the season to do so.

I prune it to shape it and remove dead wood, rather than to close to the ground.

blackbox

I find it's best to prune them in early spring. If you leave it until April or May you will remove the flower buds and flowering will be very late that year (if at all).

Late pruning won't kill it.

.

smacl

I prune mine hard back in Winter after the flowers are gone, and it always comes back to full size each year. Small enough garden and if not pruned it will take over. It is a common garden variety and seems quite tough, more decorative varieties will be less so.

jrby

when and how is the best time to take a cutting from this? as an fyi, I cut mine back hard enough once flowers gone and it keeps coming back.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

jrby wrote: »

when and how is the best time to take a cutting from this? as an fyi, I cut mine back hard enough once flowers gone and it keeps coming back.

I find cuttings taken in May or June work well for me but anytime up to August would be fine.

griffzinho

Just to add Fuschias down here in Cork have been hit by a fungus and as a result have had a very poor year.
Spraying them with fungicide might help.

macraignil

My aunt has fuchsia growing through the garden wall of her house on Inis Mor, Aran islands. She wanted to be able to see more of the wall so asked me to help remove it when I was visiting. I even got a root cutting from the wall that I planted in my own garden that is now a healthy flowering bush. The next time I visited the house of my aunt the fuchsia had re-sprouted from whatever was left at the other side of the wall and looked as healthy as ever. I think it was mid summer when we cut hard into the old plant but it was after recovering well by the following summer. I would have been reluctant to cut them back so much myself as the mature branches did give some shelter to the garden. The new growth returned to a similar height fairly quickly and then did look more tidy.

Marhay70

griffzinho wrote: »

Just to add Fuschias down here in Cork have been hit by a fungus and as a result have had a very poor year.
Spraying them with fungicide might help.

griffzinho, do you know anything about the fungus they're suffering from? Garden experts have been watching for the arrival of Fuchsia gall mite to our shores,this is already rampant in southern UK and Channel Islands. It is a devastating disease of fuchsias and to my knowledge has no really effective treatment as it is highly contagious, symptoms are curling of the leaves and a sort of mildewed appearance. if you suspect this might be the problem you should inform the Dept of Agriculture.
As for pruning fuchsia, I would do it in Spring. We have had remarkably mild winters in Ireland for the past few years and consequently fuchsias have thrived but pruning late in the year and then suffering a prolonged period of severe frost could damage plants, particularly those planted where drainage is not so good.
Fuchsia is one of the easiest shrubs to propagate, take 4" tip cuttings from March to September, even later depending on the weather, cut with a stanley blade or similar, just below the lowest leaf joint. pinch out the soft growth at the top, trim off all except the top two leaves and plunge, four to a pot into 3" pots filled with moist compost half and half peat moss and sharp sand, rooting hormone is a matter of choice. Insert the whole pot into a clear plastic bag, breathe into the bottom of the bag to inflate it then seal with an elastic band. Place the pot in a warm,shady place and leave nature to get on with it. It is advisable to take the plastic bag off every few days and shake out condensation, at the same time remove any foliage that may have dropped off. Cuttings should root in about three weeks but leave them alone until you can see roots coming out of the drainage holes before potting them up individually in potting compost. Remember to keep the cuttings moist at all times but not wet.

okedoke

okedoke wrote: »

There's a Fuchsia in my garden that is very woody (lot of wood, very little green shoots and few blossoms this year). I only moved into the house recently but it looks like it hasn't been pruned in a long time.

Can I safely prune deep into the wood in the spring? Will it regenerate?

I'll post a pic when i'm home

Sounds like it should be fine from the discussion above - here's the pic.

Thanks for advice

Marhay70

okedoke wrote: »

Sounds like it should be fine from the discussion above - here's the pic.

Thanks for advice

Yep. 3 or 4 inches from the ground. No need for any niceties, take a sharp shears to it, it'll be all the better for the trim. Maybe a feed of Gromore or similar at the same time and it'll be sitting pretty by July.

Discodog

I am cutting other peoples plants so I cut then back when they finish flowering to tidy the plant & reduce wind damage. I then cut them back further in the Spring when I can see the new shoots. The first cutback encourages the new shoots too develop. Yes most will grow back but some don't & I won't take the risk.

my3cents

okedoke wrote: »

Sounds like it should be fine from the discussion above - here's the pic.

Thanks for advice

Looks fine just in need of a good bit of water. Saw a lot of fushia hedges suffer this year for lack of water.

btw I've always found fushia bleeds like anything if cut too late in the spring. I always try and get our hedge under control in Jan/Feb and cut it to the ground every 2 or 3 years.

There are loads of minor variations in the hardy fushias you see around some just don't flower as well as others. If you are taking cuttings or buying them look for plants that have triple branching. If you follow the ends of the twigs back you find either 2 or 3 twigs coming from around the stem. Three gives bushier plants.

okedoke

thanks folks