Murraya ( Min a Min ) Hedge question to the Hedge Experts..

[TheTeese]

Hi All,

I have a beautiful Marraya Hedge ( Min a Min ) that is at it's full growth ( 1mtr (3.2 Ft ) heigh x 1mtr ( 3.2Ft width ) and is approx 60mtrs ( 200 Ft ) in length ....

When we have a Tropical storm ( QLD , Australia ) sometimes i find that the weight of the storm rain etc flattens / squashes the the top of the hedge and i have to go out and push the branches back up and shake them to get hedge looking right again..

Would a hard prune, Lets say 200mm ( 8inch ) off each side and prune the top leaving about 50mm ( 2 inch ) of green on the top actually strengthen the bush when new growth ( Branches / leaves ) grows back...

Appreciate any feed back.

cheers AL...

 

[Mystic Moon Tree]

You usually only want to clip them back by no more than 1/3 rd their current size & leave no less then that amount in leaves for photosynthesis in the temperate oart of year when the plants are not expending a lot of energy. I.e. not flowering, fruiting, or leafing delicate new foliage, or durring extreme drought or frost. Yes pruning can cause a plant like orange jasmine (Marraya) to be less leggy & vining and encourage more old growth woodyness. However the new growth every year will always be more flexible & vine like & is the part that blooms. So, I would not severely prune, but rather do some gentle shaping and pruning once or twise a year and install something aesthetic above the hedge in the rainy season to help divert excess water. That could be a tree that might take pelting driving rain better, a sloped mesh on a frame that lets some rain & sun through, but lessens the amount & force, build a trellis or arbor type built wooden or metal structure to train the bush up, strengthen the woody stalks with a bamboo or wooden plant stake, install a unique art feature that disipates the rain away from the top of the bush like a gutter would. Those are my thoughts.

 

[Anniekay]

Well, I didn't know what Marraya was until google helped me.
My gardenia did the same and I had to go out and shake the water off and put a few plant supports around it to minimize the droop.

Now that it has finished blooming I cut it back by one third and that should bulk it up for next year's blooming season.

 

[cpp gardener]

You can trim it with hedge shears to make it even more compact and less likely to 'Flop' when hard rain and wind batter it. We do that with the standard type and they hold up to Santa Ana winds (70-90 mph) just fine.