How to Prune White Gaura
- 1). Trim back any wiry flower stems that no longer have any flowers or upcoming flower buds. Trace the stem back with your hand to find its origin on the bushy plant. Make the pruning cut 1/4-inch above a cluster of leaves. White gaura will continue to produce flower stems anytime, from late spring to early autumn, so weekly trimming of old flowers -- called deadheading -- is needed.
- 2). Wait until after the initial flowering season ends before conducting widespread pruning on your white gaura. By midsummer, the plant tends to reduce its production of new flower stems. Rejuvenate the plant with a uniform trimming.
- 3). Cut back all remaining flower stems and upper portions of the leafy stems on your white gaura. Cut the entire plant back, reducing its height so that each stem is 6 to 12 inches tall. Make the pruning cuts just above a leaf on the stem. New leaf and flower shoots will then develop from the base of this leaf after pruning. Another flowering display should follow four to six weeks later in the comfortably warm weather of late summer or early fall.
- 4). Trim back any winter-killed, above-ground portions of your white gaura in late winter. New green leaves should sprout from the stem bases, helping to reveal which brown stems to prune away. Complete this trimming maintenance before the new growth from the lower stem bases is taller than 4 inches. Removing the lanky, dead stems increases air flow and sunlight for the fresh new leaves and stems.
