How to Prune a Phormium (New Zealand Flax) by The Gardening Tutor - Mary Frost
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 พ.ย. 2024
- All you wanted to do was make your Phormium plant shorter so you shortened the leaves. Uh Oh, the tips didn't grow back. This video takes you through which tools to use and which type of cut to make when grooming a Phormium. There's an extra tip at the end of the video!
Let me know how you do with your pruning! -mary We have a new website address thegardeningtutor.com
Thank you. Your video is really well shot. Did you use a GoPro or have another person shooting for you?
Thank you for asking Doug. In all these years not one person has been curious about how we shoot these videos. My "film crew" is my best friend Melanie, who is my graphic designer too. We have been friends for decades now so she is comfortable when i direct her to get right in there next to me. You should see what i put her through as she is not a gardener. Haha! It's shot with a Cannon camera. My camera is out in the garden right now. Let me know if you would like number of camera it is. Thank you for watching! -mary
Canon Power Shot SX170 IS 16 mega pixels
The Gardening Tutor Thanks!
You're welcome. :)
This video is super helpful and well-made. Thanks! Here in San Francisco I see butchered phormiums everywhere. Even city gardeners destroy them by trimming like a regular grass. Thanks again for posting!
This is simply one of the best gardening videos I've found of any type: clear & succinct, lots of practical information, high quality filming/audio, and no wasted time. Thank you!
Oh! Thank you so much mauralancaster. Frame your comment. haha Thanks for taking time to write. -mary
I agree!
Thank you so much Karen! -mary
You should always leave the middle blade (rito) and the 2 either side of the new middle blade (awhi rito), they will ensure the fan will remain healthy. Consider the middle blade the baby and the 2 blades either side the parents they are to protect the new leaf in the middle. Any rau (leaf) on the outer of the 3 centre of the fan can be removed.
great video, exactly what i was looking for. many thanks!
1:00: sharp hand pruners and harvesting hook. wear thick gloves, long sleeve shirts and safety glasses for protection
1:45: trimming to shorten the leaves.
* don't cut the tips straight across! the leaves will never regrow the beautiful shaped tips.
* instead, cut close to the base, at a diagonal. the idea is to completely cut off the too-long-leaf, to encourage new leaves to fill in.
3:45: examples of incorrectly trimmed leaves
4:00: chop off the tips of the leaves that are too tall you want to remove, then follow them down to the base and cut it completely off at the base
5:00: cutting off completely dead leaves. if you can't pull them out, cut them at a diagonal as close to the base a possible
7:00: using the harvesting hook to cut off excess leaves that would otherwise make the bush more wide
8:00: finished results. no cut tips!
8:49: before/after
9:00: extra tip: variegated leaves
Great video and very useful information - thanks for posting. Before watching this, I always felt guilty trying to keep my phormium at a more manageable size than it wanted to grow, but now I don’t feel so bad. I’ve learned (the hard way) to prune down close to the base just as you show, and then wait before removing the rest of the leaf. These are really tough plants, and trying to pull off a leaf usually results in pulling up an entire section of the plant instead. Even the dead leaves don’t always come off without a fight. And just as you said, the pruners need to be really sharp. There is not a more difficult and frustrating job in gardening than trying to prune a phormium with dull blades…
Hi R C, I agree, Phormiums are tough. And you're right about not feeling guilty now. I still have this old phormium and it's only 3 feet or so tall with a slender bottom. My friend who bought the same phormium at the same time butchered his after letting it grow as it wanted to for a few years. Then he had to take it out because, as you know, the form was never coming back. It's so nice to talk with you. Thank you for watching! I enjoy knowing that my videos are still being watched because they are timeless. Do you know I also have a newsletter and blog? You're welcome to sign up for each on my website. I never share your email and there are no outside ads on my website. Cheers! -mary thegardeningtutor.com @thegardeningtutor
Thank you. That was a very informative and helpful video. You really got down in that plant and made it look so much better!
You're welcome Debbie, I have had that same phormium for about 12 years and kept it small, such a great plant. Thank you for taking time to watch and comment! -mary
I’ve been trying to find out how to prune variegated phormium. I live in an apartment block of 3yrs old with probably 10 of these plants. We have a ‘gardener’ who has cut some of them off at the top! Although I am 88 I still love gardening, so having seen your video, I am going to ‘have a go’ at tidying one up your way. They have all got rather big, even though the ground is poor with a lot of chalk. So thank you for your video.
Thank you for commenting Rosemary. I'm sorry to hear those phormium have had their tips cut off. Please wear safety glasses when pruning these and long sleeves (as the leaf blades can cut). Even with safety glasses on I've been stuck in the eye by the tip of the leaf! Let us know how it goes! -mary
The Gardening Tutor )
I found this video very helpful, especially trimming the long leaves that you wish to remove to mark them before the actual pruning.
Wonderful, informative video, thank you! You have the same name as my mum!
Is your mum's husband's name Jack. ha! Mine is. Thank you for commenting. You gave me a smile! -mary
Thank you! Really helpful. I love my Phormium.
Hi Mary-
I just finished my pruning and my two plants look fabulous!
By the way, you mentioned something in this video about addressing the variegated phormium spears reverting to green, but I was not able to find anything on that in your library.
I have a pair of potted phormium plants that had gone to a pale lime green after ~4 years, but now I'm excited to see that they are sending up variegated spears again. Could it be because I gave them some light fertilizing? Or??
Any advice here appreciated, as I'd like to encourage the trend. ;)
Good for you!! I think the variegated tip was at the very end of video. You are so lucky that your variegated phormium is back! There must have been dormant variegated leaves left in the tubers. And yes, any time you see solid green growth on any variegated plant remove it from its origin so that the whole plant does not revert to solid green (phormiums included). -mary
Great video! We have not paid attention to our Phormium and it is now quite large and tall, over 6ft. It looks like we have several large clumps, too. IIt is now crowding out other plants around it. So, our question is how do we reduce it's size overall? We'd like it shorter, not sure we can effectively trim because so many fronds are so tall. We'd also like to reduce the width. Can we cut out whole clumps? What do you suggest? Thanks so much for providing great information in the video and, hopefully, answering this question.
My phormium was as you described and I just went outside to find that my gardener butchered it. I'm so sad. It was a bit overgrown but flowering and beautiful. Now it looks bare.
Watched this to see if I was doing it right.
I’d already done it the exact same way previously with phormium and similar houseplants.
So I did it right!
Clapping! Yay! Cordyline is a little different but you are correct to make diagonal cuts close to the base on any leaf plant that has sword shaped leaf blades when that leaf that cannot be removed completely. Thanks so much for commenting and watching! -mary
This is very helpful. I have rows of Black Adder on both sides of my front walk. Unfortunately, there is no growth in the plants on the NW side of the walk.
Thank you for watching and commenting bekithomson. 'Black Adder' is so beautiful! I had to look it up. I've never seen that sold here. Did your plants not get enough sun on the NW side or did the drip irrigation mess up or something? -mary p.s. mealy bugs can really do a number on phormiums as well.
Would have liked seeing how we could divide off side shoots that are healthy.
great video. i do the same way. i think people should take advice of replacing botched plant. been dealing with one for almost a year for a family member and its a lost cause. Thank you very much once again
Thank you Rebecca for being the first to post on this video! You're right, it is not possible to bring back a big one, maybe a small one but not a large phormium that has been unfortunately pruned. :( You may be able to dig that one out, find a good looking chunk of it that has good foliage and make a new plant. Easier to buy new though. Thanks again! -mary
Excellent explanation. Thank you! Greeatings from Patagonia
Thank you Marcos. Wow, Patagonia! I just watched a nature show about your penguins. What a beautiful place to live! Thank you for watching. Your comment all the way from Patagonia makes my day! -mary
I have just shared your video on The Garden Answers Groupies Facebook page. I hope you get more views. You videos are so good. Keep them coming PLEASE>
Thank you so much Mary! (whispering...comments like yours make up for the snarky ones, for sure). I have had a dog barking constantly for the last 4 months making it impossible to film in the Demo Garden. I hope to return to filming one day. Might have to take it one the road but I like filming in the Demo Garden best. Thanks again! -mary
I've been wrestling with NZ flax last couple of days. Thanks Mary.
You're so welcome. Did you win? :) Thanks for taking time to watch and comment. -mary
@@TheGardeningTutor yeah just have to be careful pulling them sometimes rips off a whole cluster. Most folks leave them until they become so congested. They look so much better stripped out.
I hear you about the clumps. Once I make my videos I never watch them again because there would always be something I would want to improve (and it is costly to make the videos). I'm sorry if I did not address holding down on a clump if you feel the whole clump wants to come out. Sometimes I stop pulling and just cut out the leaf I'm after. I bet your Phormiums look Fantastic now!!
-m
@@TheGardeningTutor yeah they flowered this year. I never knew what they were called or how to prune. Always congested usually need reduction of outermost layers of each cluster. They never recover if you just half the height lol
Thank you. my Flex has grown so big and wide. I want to cut it small. so when you cut the whole branch off from ground level, will it grow back?
A new clump will most likely grow into the space where you cut out a chunk. Once a Phormium has grown huge it can take several hours to bring it to the size you'd like but it's not impossible. You can do it. Maybe do the grooming over several days. Thank you for watching! I'm sorry for such a late reply. :)
-mary
Maori tradition is clear. leave the 3 middle leaves on each fan for plant survival. Others have pointed this out for a reason. If you are using NZ harakeke you could easily research this. There is more to a harakeke bush than than just looking beautiful
Hi the traditional way of pruning is to leave the baby mum amd dad, or the new leaf coming up and the two next to it. Cut away the other leaves so your left with just three leaves per plant. Gets rid of all old foliage and left with a nice looking flax. Good video.
That's great! Sounds good to me Rhys! Thanks for taking time to post. -mary :)
Am about to work on an overgrown phormium and would like to know if I should remove the old thin woody flower stalks or leave them in place.
Hi William, it sounds like they are dead so yes, remove them from as far as you can go down the stalk. Ideally completely out. It is a design decision but I do not usually let them flower because I am growing them for their amazing leaves. Thanks for watching. Pace yourself if you have a big Phormium as they can take several hours to groom well. -mary
@@TheGardeningTutor Thank you for the advice. Perhaps a new one will sometime flower down the line.
Hi there, I have one in my garden but they got so tall they all just bent down and look droopy😢 I cut the droopy ones the way you showed but not sure how to avoid the droopiness and them bending?
Hi Thekia V, Phormiums come in two forms, either upright or lax. It sounds as if you may have the lax form, which would mean slightly droopy appearance. Since I can't share photos here on my reply to you, i can put up some before and after photos of the lax form so you know what you may be striving for. Let me know and I'll post on facebook. thank for watching! -mary
p.s. you could email mail me directly through me website thegardeningtutor.com and i can email you back directly.
The is super helpful and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! Will be subscribing and watching your other videos.
Thank you for watching Shoji before you pruned. :) -mary
Great very informative
can you prune a phormium all the way down to the ground and have it re-grow new blades?
welll...it might be better to dig it up and divide it into a new plant that has new leaves already pushing from it. If you are asking because the plant has already been pruned of all its tips then you really have nothing to lose by trying what you suggest. Thank you for taking the time to watch and post Lori. Let us know how it goes. -mary
Geez, I just deadhead my phormium because it looked so sad. Will it come back? I pruned it yesterday 1/29/22 Fresno California winter.
Thank you for watching Rejuvimed. Without seeing how you pruned your Phormium it's hard for me to reply well. You can message me and send a photo to me on my facebook page:facebook.com/thegardeningtutor/
So sorry for the late reply!
-mary
Not sure if you will respond as I appreciate this video is from 2 years ago (!) I love Phormiums and have a phormium sundowner but for some reason the leaves are flopping/drooping all over the place and can't maintain a upward structure, often the leaves criss-cross over each other too. Any ideas on how to fix that and why it is?
Hi Mohammad, I'm still here and have The Gardening Tutor business here in Santa Rosa, CA. Some phormiums have a natural form that is upright (like the one in the video) and some have a lax form so the leaves naturally bend down. The pruning cuts (with the diagonal) and removing leaf blades completely is still the same for this form as for the other form. I'll put a photo on my facebook page The Gardening Tutor of one of the lax forms (i think it may even be 'Sundowner') that just shaped so you can see what your final look will be. Write anytime! Thanks for watching and commenting.-mary
@@TheGardeningTutor Hi Mary, thanks so much for such a prompt response! Thanks for letting me know about this, I wasn't aware about the different forms. Perhaps I should have gotten Maori Queen! I'll keep an eye out on your facebook page - I assume then sundowner is one of those lax form phormiums? I'll have a go pruning it before giving up on it I think! I potted it into a flower bed about 4 weeks ago so thought perhaps it was the shock of being out in the elements (I'm in the UK). Also do you have a patreon/way in which people can contribute to your channel?
I posted the photo for you Mohammad: facebook.com/thegardeningtutor/
I think that 'Sundowner' is lax form but not sure. Thank you so much for asking about contributing to my channel! Boy, it sure would be nice to earn money from my videos but alas I do not. Accept my gift videos. ha! Let us know what happens to your phormium. -mary
Hi, I have a few Flax plants in my front yard. I just recently moved into a new home and haven’t dealt with these type of plants before. I have noticed that the Tips are drying up and turning brown. Any advice on how to prevent this on new growths? I live in California and our summers get pretty hot here. Thanks
Hi Richard, If your plants are older this may be natural die back if it is just on a few and grooming out the unsightly leaves will fix that. I live in California too. Santa Rosa is in Sonoma County about 50 miles north of San Francisco. If your plants are stressed from drying out the tips could be showing that. I give my phormium a deep soak once a month in summer instead of having it on weekly drip irrigation. But I have drip on phormiums in the gardens I tend for other people and they do well. Overwatering i can be worse for phormiums than underwatering though. Let us know how it goes! -mary
@@TheGardeningTutor Thanks for responding back. The plants are definitely older ones there at least 5 ft tall. When I moved in last month they looked better and the tips weren’t drying up. I also live in The Bay Area I’m in the East Bay in Concord. For watering how many times a week is usually ideal if I want to just water them lightly ? Thanks Amy
It will be better to give them a deep soak once a month than water too lightly (which will not really water the roots). Feel free to call me so we can talk about your irrigation situation. You can find my number on my contact page on my thegardeningtutor.com
-mary :)
caught my eye for this plants purply tinge, but then it might be just illusion, or color from plant next to it. Two look lovely next to each other.
Thanks for posting your thoughts Diane. I agree they look great together. Then in winter the Berberis drops all its leaves while the Phormium keeps looking the same. The color is more pink or salmon color in person but I can see how the purple may be reflecting. All the best, mary
Thanks for posting such good advice.
Do you have any videos on kangaroo paws (they seem similar to maintain like phormiums) or Japanese maples?
I love my yard and gardening but my knowledge about it needs to grow.
Oh! Sorry for the late reply Amanda, been workin alot. Kangaroo paw can be groomed with the same diagonal cuts close to the base. Ultimately each cut leaf blade will be removed completely just the the Phormiums. Kangaroo paw though can be frost sensitive (they die in my Zone 9 winters so if i use them i use them as annual plants). They get terrible blacken leaves when unhappy and sometimes if you groom all the sick leaves you won't have a plant left. If yours gets this, prune down 50 percent of the leaves, let new growth fill in and then prune the other 50 percent.
I have wanted to film how to shape Japanese maples but because of Covid I am not filming now. As you may be able to tell from the videos my videographer's face is basically right next to mine while we film. :(
Thank you so much for watching, sharing and commenting!
Beautiful flower👍
Lo 300 beautiful plant. Thank you for sharing dear friend stay connected with me
Hello Mary! UK here, did you call the tool with a hook a GRAPE hook?
Hi Caz! How lovely to receive a salutation! :) Yes, that's called a grape harvesting hook here. It has a serrated. I'm also using a new hook tool now (from Wyatt Irrigation) that looks the same but has no serrated blade. If you find either of these tools be super careful, they are Sharp! Thank you for watching. -mary
Very good.😆 Cheers.👍 Nice.😆
Thank you so much Leonard! And for watching and commenting. -mary
@@TheGardeningTutor 👍👍👌
Do this advice also apply to Cordyline Red Star?
Hi Stephen, Cordyline pruning is a bit different from the Phormiums. Cordylines tend to grow a tall trunk and pruning involves removing the old/unsightly leaves by cutting them flush against the trunk or better yet pushing down on the leaf blade (this is easier once the leaves is old) so it comes off cleanly from the trunk. But before the trunk forms you may find the diagonal pruning cuts (as with phormiums) helpful to use. As cordylines grow trunks they also push new growth from the base (if you're lucky) and over time I completely remove the trunks right to the ground to allow the new foliage to become the new plant basically. Some people grow cordylines for the trunk look but i do not. It's personal preference. Thanks for watching and commenting. -mary
Thank you so much for sharing this video
Thank you for watching and posting Sos! -mary :)
Thanks
You're so welcome Guy. Remember you can watch my videos on Vimeo now ad-free. You do not have to join Vimeo to watch: vimeo.com/thegardeningtutor
or
vimeo.com/channels/thegardeningtutor
-mary
Mine died 🙁all rotten in the middle 😢 will anything ever grow back or will that be it 🤔
Aww, I'm sorry to hear this. If you have any good growth on the outside of the plant it may keep growing since they grow outward from the root tips. I have seen quite a bit of this dying out in the past couple of years. There seems to be two possible things going on, one is too much water (as Phormiums are quiet drought tolerant) and the other is that when I have gone shopping for them and I pop the whole plant out of the nursery container to inspect the roots there have been lots of black roots instead of healthy yellow roots. I'm not sure if the nurseries have started overwatering or (more likely) it is some kind of root disease. If your plant has healthy outward parts you could dig out the whole plant and separate out the good parts and create brand new plants. Let us know how it goes! Remember, you can now watch my videos Ad-Free on Vimeo (you do not have to join Vimeo to watch): vimeo.com/549684492
Thank you for watching. -mary
Wow fast response 😊 I will try and save the couple of healthy bits, I'm not very good with plants but this was a present 🌱 Thank you 👍
Haha, I was sitting right here when your note came in. Usually i am working so much my replies are later but I do reply. You can do this Andrew! One tip is to avoid burying the roots too deeply. -m
very helpful thankyou
In New Zealand we call it by its native name “Harakeke” said like hah-rah-keh-keh. And māori is said like mou-rrrree
How I wish I could hear you say these names F J and wish I knew this decades ago. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to show me. My suppliers won't know what I want if I say it correctly, haha! It must have hurt your ears to listen to me mess up that name. Warmly -mary
Re. The bad pruning still - you wouldn’t have to plant a new phormium just cut it off at ground level in the spring/summer & within 2 months it would have grown back normally
Need more videos and information please 🐞🐦👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Oh Graham I too want more videos. For 9 months the neighbor's dog has barked all day and all night making filming impossible. Now, I'm not sure if i have my videographer anymore. How would you feel if the quality of the videos went way down? I need my hands to show what I'm talking about and a gopro on my head is the only way to do that without a videographer. Sadly. Thank you for posting your request! It lets me know you all are out there. -mary
Watching this after my boyfriend demolished one of our plants by cutting all of them straight across 😢
Aww, I'm sorry this happened. :(
Do they really need to be pruned?
If beauty is not what you're after then, no, they do not need to be pruned. They will fill in with new growth and have lots of naturally dead growth at the same time. Also they may become a massive size. -mary
@@TheGardeningTutor one of mine was massive but I loved it. Just found that my gardener cut all the leaves way down and now it looks terrible. Not sure if it will look nice again.
Oh Bre S. I'm so sorry to hear this. Phormiums are so beautiful especially when they have room to be large. Sadly, none of the cut leaves will grow new tips. :( New leaf blades will push up through the old, cut blades and the cuts blades will continue to grow tall too. I hesitate to say this idea but in order to at least make it look better you could cut all the cut tips again but at an angle (like in the video). Your plant sounds like it is pretty large so a complete removal of all the offended leaves may not be possible and may not even bring it back to glory. So sorry. -mary
Why do you cut back to nearly ground level then come back in a few weeks to remove completely? You don't want any of those ugly diagonal cut tips growing so why not remove the leaf at the base in one go?
Thanks for the video. Well shot for people like me who know absolutely nothing about gardening.
Thanks for watching Giles. If you find that you can remove the entire leaf cleanly the first go around, you can do that. Usually though I come back through when the cut leaves are weaken so they let go more easily. Also, striping too much at one time can leave the plant looking poorly. One goal of pruning is to make it look like you haven't pruned, ha! The plant just looks great and no one can tell why.
The diagonal cuts help camouflage the cuts. Pruning of Phormiums is an ongoing task to keep them looking good, help control pests (like mealy bug), and to manage the size.
-mary
@@TheGardeningTutor many thanks for your reply. Much appreciated
Your not actually allowed to touch Harakeke, but okay. Even if it 's on your property. So i'm told. But, who cares. I have it on my property and have used it in the past.