How to Trim a Potato Bush

A potato bush, also known as the blue potato bush, Chilean potato bush, or Paraguayan nightshade, is an evergreen shrub that can have a spread of up to 12 feet. The potato bush can be trained as a vine, shrub, or even a little tree. No matter what form your potato bush takes, you can trim it to keep its size in control and maintain the shape you have selected. Always use clean, sharp gardening shears.

Gardening shears

Instructions

- 1
  Wait until late winter or early spring to trim the potato bush. New growth will not have begun yet, so the shoots you trim won't experience frost damage because of the pruning wounds.
- 2
  Cut the branches or shoots on the top of the bush back by one-third. Make all cuts just above a leaf or flower node, to prevent the ends of the bush from looking spindly. The branches will make new growth at the nodes.
- 3
  Cut back the branches on the sides of the bush by one-third. Make these cuts above a node, as well.
- 4
  Cut off the stems on the lower portion of the bush, if you have trained it to grow like a tree. The part that you have made into a trunk should have all the shoots removed. Cut them back to the trunk.

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Shrubs