Plant Doctor Archive

 WE have a red bottlebrush tree flowering beside our house which is 2.5m tall. Only the top seems to flower and the sides have clusters of cones. How can I encourage the tree to flower all over? Should I be pruning it?

  YES, you should be pruning your bottlebrush to encourage fresh growth and a bushy habit. However, prune it back carefully. Don’t be too severe. Cut it back by up to a third, section by section, until you get the shape of tree that you want. It may take several years.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 97, 2002, Page 20

• The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH
• Content or advice may be out-of-date.