How And When To Prune Bird Of Paradise Plants | Gardener's Path

Personal Protective Equipment

Safety first! I know that donning some PPE for a bit of pruning can be a hassle, but trust me: it’s well worth it to be protected when working with blades.

Protection doesn’t have to be strictly up to OSHA standards, thankfully. Simply putting on puncture-proof gloves and safety glasses is enough to keep you safe.

Puncture Resistant Gardening Gloves

To acquire some gloves, head on over to Garrett Wade to purchase a pair of medium, large, or extra-large puncture-resistant gloves in an attractive shade of green.

For safety glasses, 3M has some available in either blue or black on Amazon.

If you’re a four-eyed goober like myself, Aquilius sells a three-pack of wraparounds, which are also available on Amazon.

Hand Pruners

If you’re a gardener, odds are that you have these already. Hand pruners will be the best choice for pruning those smaller Strelitzia species, such as S. juncea or S. reginae.

You’ll want to choose bypass pruners specifically, which will prolong blade sharpness while making the cleanest possible cuts.

Bypass Pruners

In need of hand pruners? Snag a set of bypass pruners from Gardener’s Supply.

Pruning Saw

Sometimes, Strelitzia stalks are just too large and tough for hand pruners to cut through.

Even if you have phonebook-tearing levels of grip strength, muscling through a cut that your pruners can’t make will result in excessive damage to both the plant and the pruner blades. No bueno.

For such cuts, you’ll need a pruning saw, which will handle those larger, tougher plant shoots that hand pruners can hardly put a dent into.

Plus, the blade is usually long and narrow enough to fit through a mass of Strelitzia shoots, enabling you to reach the exact one you wish to prune with ease.

Pruning Saw

For a 12-inch-long pruning saw that comes with a sheath for safe storage, head on over to Gardener’s Supply.

Pole Saw

The smaller Strelitzia species can usually be pruned at ground level, but you may need some vertical assistance to prune the taller, tree-like S. caudata, S. nicolai, and/or S. alba, especially once they get to be 20 to 30 feet tall.

Most folks don’t have ready access to a bucket truck, though… and while you could attempt to saw while standing precariously on a stepladder, there are safer ways to extend your reach.

Enter the pole-saw: it’s essentially a saw on a stick. The longer models tend to be collapsable, which makes them both lighter and easier to store. With a pole saw in your pruning arsenal, no undesired Strelitzia shoot is safe.

Pole Saw

For a fiberglass-handled pruning saw that extends your reach 19 feet when fully assembled, head on over to Garrett Wade.

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