Camellia Trees

Question

I just bought a house with a huge variety of Camellias. The problem I am having is that the camellia is now a tree with a good size trunk. The tree is over 15 feet tall and sits right in front of a window that I can’t see out of. The trunk is bare with no limbs for up to 5-6 feet. How can I trim this tree drastically without harming it?

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Answer 1

It is possible to severely prune a camellia to entirely change its shape and basically start again. Just after it finishes flowering, you can prune as far back as 1 foot from the ground. Or, if you want a more gradual approach, you can prune it back enough to remove 1/3 of its total size in the first year. This should rejuvenate it and allow you to shrink it to a more manageable size.

Here is how to prune camellia into the future:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/camellia/pruning-camellias-how-to-prune-a-camellia-plant.htm