Pruning Camellia?

Last year we bought a house in South Carolina and I have 2 Camellia bushes. We had a late freeze last year. This year my Camellia's never bloomed,. They still have the buds on them today. Can I cut it back to just above the groung and let it start over. or what. no one ever took care of them before.

Pruning Camellia?
Just a few rambling thoughts on the subject... I don't know if this is exactly what you want to hear, but here goes: camellias grow as if they were trees (which they are) and thus most of the new growth is toward the ends of the limbs. Sometimes, where a hard pruning is made, one will see some new growth sprout from the lower and interior trunk areas, but not very much -- it won't ever "fill in" down low, like the bushy shrub you had before. The top, however, will look great.


But don't despair, one of the neat things about camellias is that, if you really want that full-length shrubby look, it can be pruned all the way back to a stump and it will bush back out (although you may lose a couple years' blooms).





Why not give this "new look" a year or two --for your go, and second to see how you like it. You may be surprised. I have some old ones we pruned into "tree form" and we love them -- they get many compliments because most people never see them pruned that way. Very handsome and distinctive.





Limbing up a camelliais an instant "makeover" technique for a leggy or unthrifty camellia. And as I say, if you still hate it, whack it back next winter to a stump of about 18 inches and let it grow back out as a shrub. They can take it.