Before you even pick up the pruning shears, it is crucial to understand what kind of Grevillea I am. My growth habit varies dramatically between species. I might be a low-growing, sprawling ground cover, a dense, rounded shrub, or a small, weeping tree. Pruning a ground-cover type like 'Poorinda Royal Mantle' as if I were a tree-form like 'Robyn Gordon' will cause me significant stress and ruin my natural, beautiful form. Please research my specific cultivar to know my expected size and shape. This allows you to work *with* my nature, not against it, encouraging me to thrive rather than simply survive.
My pruning schedule is intrinsically linked to my flowering cycle. I invest a tremendous amount of energy into producing my intricate and nectar-rich blooms. The best time to prune me is immediately *after* my main flowering flush has finished. This timing is perfect because it allows me to direct my energy into producing new growth that will develop the flower buds for the next season. Avoid heavy pruning in late autumn or winter, as the cooler temperatures and reduced sunlight can slow my recovery, leaving me vulnerable and making new growth soft and susceptible to frost damage.
How you make the cut is vitally important to my health. Always use sharp, clean secateurs to make clean cuts. This prevents crushing my stems and minimizes the entry points for disease. Please avoid cutting into old, bare wood. Unlike some plants, I often do not possess dormant buds on older, leafless branches. If you cut back too hard into this non-productive wood, I may be unable to generate new shoots from that point, resulting in a dead stump. Instead, make your cuts just above a healthy, outward-facing leaf node or a side shoot. This encourages new growth to develop outwards, maintaining good air circulation and an open structure within my canopy, which helps prevent fungal diseases.
From my perspective, thoughtful pruning is a form of beneficial maintenance. Your goal should be to encourage a strong, bushy framework. For young plants, this means tip-pruning—lightly snipping off the ends of the soft new growth. This simple action encourages me to branch out laterally, creating a denser, more robust form from the very beginning. For established shrubs, focus on removing up to one-third of the foliage, prioritizing any dead, diseased, or damaged wood first. Then, thin out any spindly or crossing branches to open up my center. This allows light and air to penetrate, reducing pest and disease risk and promoting even growth throughout my structure.
There are certain practices that are highly detrimental to my wellbeing. I have a particular sensitivity to phosphorus, and many standard fertilizers are toxic to me, causing root burn and eventual death. Never feed me after pruning with a high-phosphorus fertilizer. Furthermore, I despise having my roots disturbed. While you are pruning my top growth, please resist the urge to aggressively cultivate or amend the soil directly around my root zone. The stress of a heavy prune combined with root disturbance can be fatal. Finally, never "lop" or "hat-rack" me by shearing me into a hard geometric shape. This removes all my flowering wood, encourages weak, dense outer growth that blocks light, and goes entirely against my natural form, causing me long-term stress.
