Pruning tropical grevilleas

Each year when the jacarandas are in bloom, that’s my cue to sharpen the pruning tools and give my tropical grevilleas their annual haircut. I’m not talking any ‘light trim to shape’.

Grevillea before pruning

I like to give them a good old fashioned short back and sides, just the way blokes like to prune, and that’s exactly what they need! Tropical grevilleas like ‘Honey Gem’ and ‘Robin Gordon’ are incredibly vigorous growers. My Honey Gem puts on at least 2m of growth a year. If you ignore them, and very soon they become long and straggly, which is not a good look. Give them a good hard ‘medicinal’ prune each year and they maintain a very attractive bushy appearance with lots of fresh growth and masses of blooms.

Grevillea after pruning

Why prune in October/November? Well, their peak of winter/spring blooming has finished, and chopping them now will allow them to put on some new growth before it gets too hot. You may still have a few blooms on your grevilleas… trim them off, pop them in a vase, and keep pruning. I usually cut my bushes back by up to half, removing all the deadwood and crossing branches and leaving behind a vase shaped frame, much like pruning a rose bush… and they never look back. It makes me feel invigorated too! Give it try, and CLICK HERE if you want to watch my video on how it’s done.