Smoke tree help

I have two smoke trees. One smokes , the other doesn't. I have followed all suggestion and still nothing. In the August issue of Fine Gardening an article on smoke trees suggest they should be pruned heavily in spring. I have never heard of this practice and would like to know if anyone has. Plus any suggestions on my tree smoking would be appreciatted.

Carol

Pruning heavily is recommended for the ones with colored foliage since new growth typically has the most vibrant colored foliage. However, since they bloom on old wood, pruning them severely will prevent them from blooming so I definitely wouldn't do it every year if you want to have blooms too. I'm assuming you haven't pruned yours yet so that wouldn't explain why it's not blooming...can you think of any differences between your two plants? Are they different cultivars, is one getting more sun than the other, is one maybe getting more water, fertilizer, etc?

The only difference in thetwo trees is one is older. Other than that, they are about 20 feet apart, receive the same amount of water, etc.

Carol

Is it the younger one that's not blooming? If so it may just need more time.

It is the younger one that's not blooming, but the older one gets several blooms. I have seen several smoke trees in my area and they are beautiful; covered with smoke. What could I be dong wrong?

Carol

You may not be doing anything wrong, sometimes a little patience is all that's required. Am I correct in assuming that the old one hasn't been there that much longer than the younger one? Some shrubs and trees can take a number of years to get to the point where they're putting on a really nice show. I suspect your older one is just starting to get going and will have more and more blooms in future years, and the younger one is probably a year or two behind it. Are they in full sun? If they've got too much shade that could hurt bloom production too. Otherwise, it never hurts to do some research and make sure you're watering and fertilizing appropriately since too much or too little of either of those things could hurt the blooms, but since they look healthy it's very possible they just need more time.

Smoke trees can be VERY invasive to water sources, ie drain fields, septic tanks etc. Is the blooming one CLOSER to a water source?? I'm not talking about water YOU provide, I'm suggesting it might be benefitting from another source of water. Just a thought!

LONG ago, when my parents had their septic tank emptied and had to have their lines cleaned, the worker suggested part of their problem was probably the neighbor's Smoke tree.

Cotinus coggygria, especially 'Royal Purple' is very often annually coppiced. That is pruned back very hard to force vigorous highly colored new grow and to keep the good color at eye level. Coppicing would remove the future "smoke" panicles as ercrane3 pointed out. They do prefer a drier soil and they like it hot. It is one shrub/tree that doesn't want a lot of water. Also zone 4 is the upper limit of its hardiness range. But if others planted around you are blooming then cold isn't the problem. I have heard of some gardeners just whacking one back and starting over. However if you have a pair that would certainly spoil the look.
One approach would be to not water, unless a really severe drought, or fertilize this season. See what happens. If it doesn't get with the program next year then I'd get out the loppers and give it the haircut of its life.

Thanks for the advice! I'm ready to get out the loppers and give a thrashing now, but I'll wait 'til next year.

Carol