[Umbrian]

This autumn I am hoping to start planting my new garden and would appreciate some advice on when and how to prune two old large Nerium oleander. They are planted close together and completely fill the back edge of one raised area of garden rising to a height of 10ft+ affording privacy in the one place where the garden is overlooked. The problem is that they have been neglected and weak growth from newer stems at the sides of the bushes/trees is flopping far and wide whilst any in the centres is dying back due to lack of light and space. The amount of dry dead leaves that I have to clear away on every visit to the garden is driving me mad as they fall on the surrounding patio and path areas. Both subjects flower well, mainly on the older taller stems and their side shoots but I feel perhaps I should at least thin out some of these to give the newer stems a chance to strengthen and rejuvenate the plants.
Any advice on when and how to tackle this problem will be gratefully received.

[Fleur Pavlidis]

Super oleander expert Traude Gotsis recommends cutting back really hard at the end of the summer. They take a whileto come backbut it's all new growth.

[David Bracey]

I recommend to prune before the end of the season this will allow some growth before the onset of dormancy thus eliminating rather ugly  "pruned " shoots. The harder you prune the stronger the new growth. The corollary is that the lighter you prune the weaker the new growth.  Try to shape your oleanders at the same time. Not sure if Traudenwould agree.

[Alisdair]

There might be something to be said for cutting back almost all the stems as firmly as Fleur suggests, but selecting a very few of the strong but less upright ones and pruning those as a short framework, then concentrating the new growth on them? This might give you more control over the shape of the two bushes.

[Alice]

I don't usually bother to prune oleanders, Umbrian, unless they are obscuring a view or to remove the odd weak or dead branch. Over-pruning is supposed to reduce flowering. If I have to prune I just hack them back whenever I need to and they have never seemed to suffer. I understand that you would like to tidy yours up and wonder it you have very vigorous or floppy cultivars. Floppy ones do indeed look better after a prune. The yellowing and falling leaves are a coping mechanism against summer drought. They lose the older leaves first.

[gertrude]

Two years ago two of our oleanders were flattend by the snow and had to be cut back to the ground, originally they were about 1.5mtrs tall, this year they have reached the same height again and flowered abundantly, the best they have every been.  The motorways around here have oleanders in the central reservations and they are cut back severely every two years with machines and manage to survive and flower.  I dont think you will experience any problems especially if  you leave it until the autumn when they will have taken up some rain.

[Umbrian]

Many thanks for all the advice that I am still trying to digest Because of the privacy aspect I was hoping someone might say take out some of the older, taller stems and leave others It would appear that new growth should be ensured and good height attained fairly quickly and so perhaps I am better to bite the bullet and reduce them completely at the end of the summer. I would imagine that they are quite old and so am just hoping that such drastic action would not be too much of a shock?

[JTh]

If I wanted to preserve some of the privacy but stimulate regrowth, I would do as you suggest, Carole, and remove the older stems. If you take out 1/3 every year, then your oleanders should be compelete renewed in three years' time.

[pamela]

In my experience cutting back hard later than September gives very few flowers the following year.  This year I am going to cut back hard 2 or 2 substantial branches on each plant so that they can thicken up without compromising the flowering.