Plant Doctor Archive

Red bottlebrush tree

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.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.