Chalice Vine Trimming
Chalice vines produce huge, golden, bell-shaped flowers, each one up to 10 inches (25.5 cm.) long, with thick, leathery petals. The evergreen foliage is also heavy, each leaf some 6 inches (15 cm.) long. The vine grows fast in any soil with good drainage. As it gets longer, it can smother entire fences and weight down pergolas with vines that run to hundreds of feet. Chalice vine trimming may be the only way to keep the plant from becoming the garden bully. Before you jump into chalice vine pruning, take note of the toxicity of this plant. When you are pruning chalice vines, wear garden gloves and keep every part of the plant far from your lips. If you eat any part of the plant, you will get very unpleasant symptoms like nausea, vomiting, headache, and diarrhea. Ingesting the vine can also be deadly, so keep curious kids and hungry pets away. Touching the plant, then rubbing your eyes creates vision problems. The resulting blurred vision can last up to a week.
How and When to Prune Chalice Vines
These vines grow fast and furious during the warm season. You can trim them during these months as often as you need to keep control of the plant. The amount of chalice vine trimming you’ll need to do depends on the growth rate of your plant and the space you have reserved for it. How to cut back a chalice vine? Snip off however much you need to eliminate. The vine tolerates severe pruning. In winter months, when the weather is chillier, the growth rate of the chalice vine slows. You won’t need to be pruning chalice vines during this period. This works out well, since it is during the colder months that the plant produces most of its flowers.
