Oleander is a fairly easy-care shrub that needs pruning every now and then.
However, this should not be too strong.
The sun-loving oleander has long since found its fans in Germany.
The white, yellow, pink to red flowering shrub originally comes from the Mediterranean region and therefore tolerates a lot of sun.
To ensure that it continues to grow compactly in your garden and blooms beautifully again next year, it occasionally needs pruning from the second year onwards.
Read on to find out how and when to prune this popular potted and tub plant.
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In order for the oleander to continue to bloom as magnificently as it does here, it needs to be pruned once a year.
© IMAGO/Jürgen Held
When do you prune oleanders?
Oleanders are relatively easy to cut.
However, how severe a pruning can be depends on the desired effect.
The oleander forms its buds for the following spring in late summer.
If you reach for the secateurs too boldly, you will lose the blooms in the following year.
Oleander should therefore only be cut back radically if the plants are already older and are in the process of aging.
According to
Mein Schönen Garten
, spring is the best time for such a radical pruning, just before budding.
Plantura
recommends a radical cut for autumn too.
Keep in mind, however, that with such a tough intervention, the plant needs about a year to regain its old strength and flower.
If you only want to thin out your oleander bush a bit or make an educational cut, early spring is the ideal time for this.
But even before wintering, the oleander can be thinned out a little - but then only very cautiously.
No matter when you cut your oleander: Be sure to wear gloves, because oleander is poisonous and its sap can cause skin irritation.
Instructions: How to make thinning and training cuts
In early spring, the oleander is pruned for education and clearing out in order to steer its growth in the right direction.
This is how you proceed according to the
Plantura
garden portal :
Cut back weak or too long shoots to the next main shoot.
Under no circumstances should you shorten the tips or infructescence, otherwise you will remove the flower buds at the same time.
If the oleander sprouts in the wrong place, you can also cut back unwanted shoots during the summer.
How to radically cut back oleanders
Oleander bushes that are too old grow old and then lose their flowering power.
So that you can enjoy a wonderfully flowering shrub again, you should ideally prune oleanders vigorously in March or in autumn before wintering.
Don't worry, the oleander will sprout even more vigorously afterwards!
How to proceed:
Cut back the branches to 10-30 cm.
Thin branches may be pruned back to the base.
If the roots are weak, it is advisable to also transplant the oleander into fresh soil.
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Thin out oleanders before overwintering
Oleanders are not 100% hardy, so they need to be moved to winter quarters in late fall, around mid to late November.
If you are dealing with a particularly luxuriant shrub in a pot or tub, you can also thin out your plant a little before moving.
However, only cut up to the first bud so as not to remove the flower buds at the same time.
Diseased and damaged shoots should also be removed now.
List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Jürgen Held