You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
When is the right time to prune a Carolina Jasmine? In the South Central TX we have been in drought conditions. Leaves looked rusty all summer and the blooms were scarce in the spring. It gets sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. It is not doing well and I would like to get it off to a better start for this growing season.
I would suggest posting your question in the Beginner Gardening forum: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/b_gardentalk/all/ This forum is for discussing the new Garden Showcase feature so for gardening advice/how-to's you will get more answers in the other forum.
If you have to prune it fairly hard, I would prune it as early as you can in the late winter/early spring.
Do not prune so early that the new growth gets hit by the last frost, though.
You can also do some light pruning through the summer, but not major re-shaping.
A conservative suggestion: Prune off no more than 25% of the total mass at any one time, but cut back a few of the most awkward branches as far as you want. Then look at the pile on the ground, and if that is about 1/4 of the plant, STOP.
Allow regrowth, shaping, and lightly trimming it through the summer.
Next year, more major pruning.
