HYBRID BROOMS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 42, 13 November 1936, Page 16

HYBRID BROOMS

Need Pruning Now The average broom grows very freely and puts up a big head. Unless you prune fairly drastically, this head will get badly battered about in winter. That is one good reason for keeping growth well in hand. Another and even more important reason is that you get more and better flowers. Unpruned brooms, even when they are sheltered enough to escape storm breakage, blossom at the branch ends, while in the centres you have a lot of dead and weak growth that spoils the effect of the bit of blossom at the extremities. There is one precaution, however, you must take when pruning. Don’t cut back into hard wood, or there will be uncontrollable decay from the cut ends.

The correct course is to go through each bush first, removing the dead and very weak wood which you can see has no chance of ever making a decent show.

Having done this, shorten the flowered branches one-half to two-thirds of the way back. The weaker branches should have the severer treatment, for you wish to strengthen them and balance the head.