Keeping houseplants is a great way to beautify your home and surround yourself with low-maintenance living things. But although plants require far less care and attention than cats or dogs, it's still essential to see to their needs. One important way to keep your plants healthy is to prune them, and knowing how and when to prune can make the difference between having a brown, overgrown plant, and one that's green and attractive.
Ruthann Spears is the manager of Cincinnati Parks' Krohn Conservatory, a vast campus of greenhouses housing horticultural displays ranging from tropical rainforests to deserts. She holds a degree in Ornamental Horticulture and has many years experience working with plants and flowers of all types. Her she offers some tips for pruning your plants:
- Trim to original shape.
When pruning, try to remember what the plant first looked like when you first bought it and do your best to trim it back to the original shape it was in.
- Prune to encourage growth.
Pruning is very healthy for the plant; it encourages new growth. If you've let your ficus tree grow very thick, for instance, you should thin it out and open it up a little bit in the center.
- Clip runners below leaf.
If you have a pothos or a vining plant that has very long runners, clip it to just below a leaf. This will make the plant grow from the center or grow from the top again rather than having long straggly things hanging off of it.
- Trim damaged leaves.
Don't be afraid to use a pair of scissors or a pruner on a houseplant. If you have a brown leaf, just go ahead and trim it. If it looks particularly bad, take it all the way off. The plant won't suffer from losing a brown leaf, and in fact it will probably much better for it.
For more information about caring for plants, check out the following organizations or websites:
City of Cincinnati Parks Department: Krohn Conservatory
www.cincinnati-oh.gov
Plant Care.com
www.plantcare.com
The Garden Helper: Caring for Flowering and Foliage Houseplants
www.thegardenhelper.com
FTD.com: Flowers & Plant Care
www.ftd.com
University of Illinois Extension: Houseplants
www.urbanext.uiuc.edu
The Gardener's Network: All About Houseplants
www.gardenersnet.com
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