The Golden Spirit Smoke Bush (Cotinus coggygria ‘Golden Spirit’) is an ornamental shrub known for its golden foliage. This deciduous plant provides visual interest across seasons, with leaves emerging chartreuse in spring, turning golden yellow in summer, and displaying coral pink, red, and orange in fall. Proper pruning is important for maintaining the plant’s health, enhancing its appearance, and shaping its growth.
Reasons to Prune
Pruning a Golden Spirit Smoke Bush promotes the plant’s well-being. It removes dead, diseased, or damaged branches, maintaining plant health and preventing pathogen spread. This also improves air circulation within the shrub, reducing disease risk.
Pruning enhances the plant’s ornamental value by encouraging vibrant golden leaves. It promotes vigorous new growth, which displays intense foliage color. Pruning also controls the plant’s size and shape, ensuring it fits its space and maintains a desirable form.
Timing Your Pruning
The optimal period for most pruning, especially hard pruning, is late winter or early spring, just before new growth begins. Pruning during dormancy minimizes stress and allows wounds to heal quickly with the onset of the growing season.
Late winter or early spring pruning also removes wood damaged during colder months, shaping the plant. Cotinus blooms on old wood, so severe pruning at this time, while promoting foliage, will sacrifice the “smoky” flower plumes for the current year. Pruning in late summer or fall is discouraged as it can stimulate new growth that may not harden off before winter, leading to damage.
Pruning Techniques
Tools for Pruning
Proper tools are important for effective pruning. Essential tools include sharp hand pruners for smaller stems, loppers for branches up to 1.5 inches in diameter, and a pruning saw for larger limbs. Keeping tools clean and sharp prevents disease spread and ensures clean cuts, which heal more readily.
Pruning for Overall Health and Structure
To maintain plant health, remove any dead, diseased, or damaged branches. Cut these back to healthy wood or the main stem. Remove branches that cross and rub against each other to prevent wounds that could become entry points for pests or diseases. Thinning crowded branches in the center improves air circulation and light penetration, contributing to a robust plant. When cutting, aim just above an outward-facing bud to encourage new growth away from the plant’s center.
Pruning for Vibrant Foliage Color
For intense golden foliage over smoky flower plumes, hard pruning (coppicing or pollarding) is effective. This involves cutting the entire plant severely in late winter or early spring, to 6 to 8 inches above the ground. This encourages vigorous new shoots with larger leaves and brilliant color. While this method prevents flowering for the season, the resulting flush of new growth provides a display. Hard pruning can be performed annually for consistently vibrant foliage.
Pruning for Size and Shape
To control size and maintain a desired aesthetic, various pruning methods can be employed. For a bushier form, cut all stems down to six inches above ground level for the first few years to encourage dense growth. If a tree-like form is desired, select a single strong central leader and remove all other stems. Light shaping involves heading back branches to a desired length or thinning to reduce density. Removing unusual or errant shoots as they appear encourages a more balanced and thicker branching structure.
Post-Pruning Care
After pruning, provide care to help the Golden Spirit Smoke Bush recover and thrive. Immediately water the plant thoroughly, especially if the weather is dry. Apply a 1-2 inch layer of mulch around the base to retain soil moisture and regulate soil temperature.
Monitor the plant for signs of stress, such as wilting or discolored leaves, or for pests or diseases. While pruning helps prevent disease, open wounds can temporarily make the plant vulnerable. Smoke Bush sap can cause skin irritation, so wear gloves during pruning and clean tools thoroughly to prevent corrosion. Avoid over-pruning, which stresses the plant, and ensure cuts are clean rather than ragged stubs, as proper cuts heal more effectively.