PERENNIALS > OSTEOSPERMUM > PRUNING

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OSTEOSPERMUM GUIDES

pink flowering osteospermum growing outside in a cluster

Common ProblemsCuttings PropagationGrowing From SeedPruningVarietiesWinter Care

Osteospermum shoot a line beautiful daisy - like flowers in a potpourri of dissimilar colours , realize it the nickname African daisy .

Its long - hold out bloom and relative hardiness make it an idealistic alternative of perennial plant for Britishbeds and borders .

purple flowering osteospermum flowers with green leaves growing outdoors

Though the industrial plant will flower reliably even in poorer quality soil and when leave to its own twist , you could extend its blooming season and check it keep on an esthetically pleasing shape by pruning it regularly .

The cognitive operation is a straight one and simply comprise of the following step :

For more information on each of those stages , hold out our detailed explanations below .

yellow African leaves growing in a container being pruned by a pair of secateurs

When To Prune

It ’s advisable to trim down back your osteospermum industrial plant in early leaping or autumn , or even at both time if you wish well to promote fuller growth .

However , doing so on at least one juncture is imperative in preventing your plant from becoming overly grandiloquent and leggy .

It ’s also a good idea to deadhead your African daisy throughout the bloom season since this will divert its energies away from seed production towards blossoming .

someone pinching the deadhead of an orange and purple flowering osteospermum

1) Prepare Your Tools

It ’s vital that you ensure the tools you apply are free from blight or disease .

As such , you must clean them thoroughly before and after use each time .

To do so , soak a textile in isopropyl alcohol and rub the blades of your pruning shear to remove any dross .

“ It ’s important to keep secateurs and shears fresh by remove rosin on a regular base using a proprietary resin remover or clean eraser , and to keep them sharp using taper tools designed for this job , ” says Master Horticulturist Roy Nicol .

“ This will ensure clean gash which will mend more pronto – much better for the wellness of the plant . ”

2) Cut Back In Late Spring Or Autumn

In society to maintain an esthetically pleasing structure for your osteospermum ’s growth , you should edit it back in late spring .

apply the shear to rationalise back the industrial plant to at least half its original tiptop , direct care to leave several leafage clusters on each root .

Remove all cut leaf and dispose of it away from the plant to foreclose the spread of disease .

You may repeat the unconscious process in fall if you wish to set off fuller increase .

3) Watch Out For Fading Blooms

It ’s important to guarantee that your plant devotes its energies to the area which necessitate them most .

This means discouraging source product when we ’d like the works to be generating more flowers .

Identify flower heads that are begin to turn brownish in the centre or suffer from swag flower petal , since these are the ones which must be withdraw in parliamentary law to observe a level-headed plant life and prolong the blooming time of year .

4) Deadhead Regularly

Having identify the efflorescence in penury of attention , you should apply the shears to cut back the offending company to where it joins the stalk .

If all blooms on a root are on their way out , you’re able to reduce back the entire stem to where it join the main plant life , forget a small russet scab of leaf to ensure further ontogeny .

Remember to remove all cast out leafage and dispose of it far from the works .

Deadheading should be undertaken as often as possible , but at least once a week during summer .