How NOT to Prune a Smoke Tree

Rather Square
by Rather Square
Not all home improvement projects are successful… especially in the landscaping department! Today we’re sharing how we failed a pruning project in our backyard, along with our planned next steps to try and fix it.
Last winter, we tried pruning our smoke tree so that it would grow back a little smaller and tidier this summer. We trimmed the branches at their ends, down to the height we wanted the tree to be. But we didn’t realize that pruning the tree this way would actually cause its growth to quickly surpass the smaller size we were going for. And now we’ve got a smoky monster on our hands.
Instead of a cute and tidily-pruned smoke tree in our backyard, it’s now growing up as high as our second-story windows. And it’s actually engulfing other plants in that corner of the garden. The difference in last summer’s tree growth and this summer’s is crazy – check out this side-by-side comparison.
As you can see, our pruning efforts had the opposite effect that we’d planned. Instead of keeping the smoke tree nicely shaped and at a reasonable size, we seem to have created an even more out-of-control growth situation. The branches and leaves completely block our dining nook window, keeping us from gazing out at the backyard garden during meals. Not cool.
After we noticed the smoke tree’s unusual (and unexpected) growth earlier this summer, we did some more research to see what might have gone wrong. Basically we learned that a smoke tree should be pruned in winter or early spring by trimming at the branching-off point, to keep the tree from over-sprouting. So in order to make sure this overgrowth doesn’t happen again, we’re planning to reprune Old Smoky – the correct way – this winter or next spring. We can’t cut it any further this summer, or it will just rebound and continue to get even bigger.


There is a silver lining in this whole situation, though. During dinner one night recently at our dining nook table, we were looking out the tree-filled window and lamenting our loss of a garden view, when I saw something nestled among the branches. A robin had set up headquarters in a central spot where several branches come together. It was such a nice surprise to discover this, and it made us not mind the big tree so much. We still miss our view of the garden, but this sight is pretty special too.
Check out our blog post below for more info!
Rather Square
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3 of 6 comments
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Aug 13, 2014
    Fortunately plants are frequently forgiving of our failings, and look at that lovely nest you've got.
    • Rather Square Rather Square on Aug 13, 2014
      @Douglas Hunt The robin's nest was definitely a silver lining in all of this!
  • Ellen H Ellen H on Aug 13, 2014
    I think proper pruning is the hardest gardening technique to master. It isn't just how - it's what and when and why and why not and how much. And most of that info is not on those plant tags that may have come with the plant or shrub or tree.
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