How to prune and shape an asparagus fern when it grows long vines

Flowers & Gardening Jan 1, 1970 0 views

To keep the asparagus fern's shape attractive, you need to promptly cut off its yellow branches, thick shoots, old branches and overly long new branches. In addition, once it has grown into the ideal shape, you need to promptly shorten it or use paclobutrazol to stop it from continuing to grow vines.

1. Prune overly long new branches and old branches

Once its new branches reach a certain height, you can cut them off so that more side buds will grow. Or cutting back the middle part of an old branch can achieve the same effect. For some very old branches, when pruning you can cut them off right at the base so the overall plant shape looks attractive. If you bought a dwarf asparagus fern, it will be very difficult to care for, so when pruning you must be careful.

2. Use a chemical solution to inhibit vine growth

Sometimes, if you find pruning troublesome or you lack experience and are afraid of pruning wrongly, you can buy some paclobutrazol at a pesticide shop and sprinkle its powder evenly at the center of the roots. Usually only half a tablet is needed, and this way, within a year, the asparagus fern's vines will not be able to exceed 30 cm, so this method is extremely effective.

3. Prune branches that grow beyond the ideal space

To keep it looking like a good tree shape at all times, gardening enthusiasts need to prune it ruthlessly, otherwise its long vines can reach 6 m in length, and at that point it will not only bloom but also bear fruit, yet its tree shape will be extremely ugly, and the barbs on it are very sharp, so you must cut off the branches that grow beyond the ideal space in order to keep it within a manageable range.

4. Prune thick shoots

When the asparagus fern has just grown new shoots, if the new shoots are relatively thick at that time, you can cut them off as appropriate, so that the small shoots that grow again will be a bit more slender, and this will also have a certain inhibitory effect on the vines that grow later.

5. Prune withered and yellow branches

After the asparagus fern has grown for a certain period, it will always produce yellow branches for various reasons, which not only greatly affects the beauty of the tree shape but also affects the plant's health, so at this point you can cut the yellow branches off at the base. Then around Qingming Festival, replace the soil as appropriate, mainly with soil containing humus.