Pruning Your Mock Orange

If you are lucky as I am to have a mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii) in your yard, you may have noticed it can get really tall and big, fill up more space than you have. So this how to prune to help your mock orange become a manageable shrub, not a too big tree.

Do it any time of the year, as they say, the best time to prune is when your tools are sharp.

1. Assemble tools:

• Hand pruning saw (or power one)
• Sharp Lopers
• Sharp hand held clippers
• Tarp of any type
• Arms strong enough to lift a bit

2. Decide what you want to do, such as prune to a certain height, remove stems away from fence, reduce width of shrub, and so on. This can change as you work. Look at the shrub from all angles, take a picture or two for before and after if you want.
3. Start cutting, and remember: Larger cuts now mean more time between prunings.

For height reduction: Note tallest set of stems growing straight up. There will likely be several waving around up high. Follow the tallest trunk down with your eye, identify which of the many stems is the tall one (mark with ribbon or string if needed), that's where you cut. Ideally, you will find where the tallest stem is growing up from, then follow that down, then cut as close to the ground as you can.

Use this method to find where to cut for the major tall stems/trunks of your mock orange. For the too tall branches/stems that can't be followed to the ground, just cut as low as you can.

For width reduction: Note widest stems, ones growing outward or curving downward, then as above try to find where that wide-growing stem originates, and cut there. Or cut back as far in toward the center of the shrub as you can.

To get the shrub off a fence: Get yourself over by the fence, in between the fence and the shrub if you can, and start cutting as far to the inside as you can. Cut away all main stems and branches that are growing toward the fence, as close to their source inside the thicket of stems you may have. Leave a few small thin ones or strays as you wish.

To thin for beauty of the shrub: This is completely arbitrary as far as beauty goes, its whatever you like to see. Mock Orange can get along with no pruning at all to full on heading back, to whatever suits your fancy. The shrub will stay healthy as long as it is happy in its location, and its not very fussy about that.