Renovative Pruning

 

Renovative pruning is used to deal with plants that are damaged or diseased by removing the affected sections. If used correctly, it may also be used to prevent problems from occurring in the first place, by giving the plant an un-crowded and open structure. This allows air and light to pass around the plant, preventing pests and diseases and keeping it growing well.

There are a number of that may be solved or prevented by renovative pruning:

Rubbing Shoots

Crowded stems tend to make a plant look untidy and may prevent it from growing into an attractive shape. The constant rubbing of these stems against each other may also cause friction damage, which will make the plant vulnerable to disease. Remove the stems that cross over each other to form an open structure.

Disease

Similarly, diseased shoots must be cut away so that they cannot infect the rest of the plant. Make sure that you remove all the diseased material, cutting back to the healthy wood.

If you prune away any diseased wood, always make sure that you wipe the cutting blade with disinfectant before you make any further cuts.

Dieback

Any shoot that dies back towards the main stem should be removed before it affects healthy tissue. Cut the affected part away, pruning just above a healthy bud.

Reversion and Mutation

If variegated leaves start to revert (turn the original green colour) or mutate (turn to a solid yellow or cream colour), then the shoots must be removed before their vigorous growth begins to crowd the remaining variegated stems out. Prune the shoots back to the variegated growth; this may mean that you have to remove the whole stem.