Pruning a Smoke Tree

Question

After reading your article, which was vague in that a Smoke Tree can be pruned in early spring or fall, how far down to the ground are you supposed to prune the tree? Living in Las Vegas, I would think it should be pruned in fall, but I found one article that said 5 inches from the ground, which doesn’t sound right to me. I want it to get fuller for spring. Should I just cut each tall limb back a foot or 2 in order to get twice the branches next spring? How about pruning an Australian Bottle Tree and Japanese Blueberry Tree?

Answer 1

I have a smoke tree and have had it for about 10 years. Every year (most usually in the Fall) I trim it. In the Fall of last year I trimmed it right back taking all the branches off and leaving the trunk only (about 2 feet from the ground). This summer I got just as many compliments on my smoke tree as I have every year. Since I had never trimmed it back quite so dramatically before I was a bit concerned on how it would grow. It was beautiful and very full.