How to prune an oleander

How to prune an oleander

1. 01

   Choose what to remove

   Before pruning oleander, wear gloves and eye protection. Its sap can irritate skin and eyes. Wash your hands and tools, keep clippings away from pets, and never burn them. Remove dead, damaged or frost-damaged branches, shoots from the base, and selected old wood. Use regular light pruning instead of indiscriminate shearing.

   Pruning controls shape and structure, removes damaged growth, and helps maintain flowering by managing suckers and old wood.

2. 02

   Prune at the right time

   Light pruning can follow flowering, while late-winter or spring pruning is used before new growth. Avoid pruning after early fall when it would remove next season’s buds.

3. 03

   Make one clean cut

   Thin selected branches and remove young basal suckers. Take out old wood, and do not shear the shrub.

4. 04

   When pruning will not help

   Pruning after early fall can remove next year’s flower buds, and severe reduction can sacrifice flowering while the plant regrows. Every part of oleander is poisonous, and the sap can irritate skin and eyes. Wear gloves and eye protection while cutting, and wash your hands and tools afterwards. Keep the clippings away from children and pets, and put them out with household or garden waste as your local rules allow. Never burn them: the smoke is harmful to breathe.