Root Pruning Camellia

Many trees and shrubs can be containerized provided they are well cared for and fed. The reduction in vigour that results from restricting the size of the root system also enables many tender species to be grown away from their native climate indoors and under glass. Most trees and shrubs will require root pruning.

This potted camellia is being trained as an espalier. It was potted in 2002 and the rootball had become quite congested :

First the top growth was addressed by removing dead, diseased and damaged wood:

Crossing branches and branches from the main stems that cannot be trained to the left or right of the main trunk are also removed. After bolt cutters were used to extract the espalier frame,

the rootball was carefully removed and a bamboo skewer with its end cut at an angle to gently tease out the tightly packed rootball. Wedges were scraped out of the top of the rootball.

Coarse and damaged roots were pruned with secateurs by up to two thirds. A portion of the base of the rootball was removed by using a sharp kitchen knife.

The pot is checked for any pests or disease, being mindful of spiders, particularly redbacks.

The remaining base of the rootball is also teased out, coarse and damaged roots pruned here as well to encourage the growth of fine feeder roots in place of just larger transport roots.

The camellia is then repotted using fresh general potting mix, labelled and watered thoroughly.

The above photos shows that not much height was taken from the camellia, but a little more of the dense growth was pruned out. The right and left sides were pruned to become a little more symmetrical. The top growth can be pruned again depending on the plant's future response to root pruning.

Ref : RHS Pruning and Training Manual, pg. 154