Pruning Camellias

Q: I have a camellia that needs pruning but I need to know when. It blooms in the fall, then immediately stops. In the spring it puts out profuse growth.

A: The best time to prune your sasanqua camellia is right after it finishes blooming in winter. There should be no problem in pruning it as late as April. Similarly, most japonica camellias have finished their spring blooming so they can be pruned too. The best way to prune is not to simply shorten limbs but to remove individual limbs where they join the trunk or a bigger limb. Simply cut at the joint and don’t leave a stub.