Expert: Greg Simpson - 5/5/2007

Question
Please help! My ocotillo seems to be growing at twice the speed of our neighbor's that was planted at the same time. Our's is now approximately 30 feet tall or more. Can it be cut back? Our yard is not very large, and it shares a space with a Saguaro cacti of equal size. My question is, how do I carefully prune this beautiful plant back? Thank you. Peg Bracamonte Tucson, AZ.

Answer
Peg,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I have been having a lot of computer issues that I think are now fixed. What I have seen a few people do is cut back the branches by 50% (in height). It will branch from that point eventually, but your plant should be fine.

However, if your Ocotillo is that tall, I would strongly recommend that you hire a professional to do it for you. It would be very easy to get injured attempting to trim your Ocotillo. Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Greg