Coleus is a great group of plants. They have beautiful burgandy and green foliage and like living in the shade, which makes them great for many balcony gardens, or even for use indoors if you have no gardening space outdoors (or none left!). Recently, there have even been new hybrids that tolerate full-sun.
While flipping through a copy of the Crate and Barrel catalog I spotted a pair of great looking coleus standards. I don’t know why, but I’ve really been attracted to standards lately and have plans to make a mint standard with some of the seedlings I have been growing. Perhaps its because standards need pinching and pruning and I love garden projects that require fussing over plants. I like the challenge.
I found these instructions to make a coleus standard from Garden Gate Magazine, and it looks pretty easy.
- You can start with any sized plant, just look for a straight central stem, called the “central leader.” Obviously, the smaller the plant, the longer it will take to grow into a standard, but at the same time, smaller plants are cheaper and its less painful when you make a mistake on a plant you only paid a few dollars for.
- When the plant is 8-10 inches tall, insert a bamboo stake near the base of the central leader, being careful not to damage the roots. If necessary, pot the plant in a larger container at this time. Loosely tie the central leader to the bamboo stake in several locations to help keep the central leader growing straight. Use twine, “bring[ing] the twine around the back of the stake, crossing it in an “X” between the plant and the stake. Then tie it loosely around the coleus stem.”
- Once the plant reaches approximately three feet tall, transfer it to a heavy, 12 inch container to help keep the plant from tipping over and give it enough root space. Don’t worry about shaping your plant or snipping off leaves that are growing directly on the central leader just yet. However, you do want to inspect your plant for branches that are growing near the bottom of your plant as you will want to cut those off before the become thick and woody.
- When your coleus reaches the height you want it to be (coleus can grow anywhere from 2-5 feet tall depending on which variety of coleus you have) it’s time to start the serious pruning work. A general rule of thumb for standards is 2/3 stem to 1/3 head. So if your coleus is 3 feet tall, you’ll want 24 inches of exposed trunk at the bottom and 12 inches of bushy leaves at the top. When you start getting branches at the head, keep them pruned back to the second or third node from the stem. This encourages more side branches and will help your plant fill in. Keep the secondary stems pinched back to the second or third node as well.
- Ta-da! You have a beautiful coleus standard.
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I saw the same photo in Crate and Barrel and thought they (the coleus topiaries)were fabulous! My nursery had some tiny ones for $25 a pop! So, I bought some coleus yesterday, thinking…hey, I can do that…
So, thanks for the post and we’ll see how it goes. All I have to do now is wait.
I have started w/ rooted cutting of my other coleuses but the problem i have been having once my coleus bloom they dont grow taller anymore how did you overcome this.
Diane–What variety of coleus are you working with? Not all varieties get tall enough to make a topiary. What is most likely happening is that your coleus are reaching their mature height and then flowering. Flowering is not preventing them from growing taller.
my sister told me about how a coleus can be a topiary. i was very intersted in seeing what it looled like. so i pulled it up on the internet and saw a picture of what it looked like, so i realized that i have 2 varieties of the coles plant and said that i was going to try it for myself. it has been easy to statrt becasue the one i have is full, so picked from the 2 potted them in pots and pulled off all of the bottom blooms staked them and what i noticed is that the leaves are growing larger but not taller. the one in question is wizard sun velvet red. is this a good chioce of coleus? which would you recommed to use?
Connie–Unfortunately wizard sun velvet red only gets to be about 12 inches tall. If you’re looking for a coleus that looks similar, but is taller, try ‘Ruby.’ It gets to be about 24 inches tall.
This may be the problem im not sure what types mine are, i had purchased them in the spring and wanted to grow one later in the season. i didn’t understand that only certain types can be used. Not to be a bother but if do u know of types i can use.
Diane–There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of varieties of coleus, so it would be impossible for me to name all the varieties that get tall enough. When you go to the nursery (or pick out some seeds) just check the tag to see how tall the plant is expected to get. I think around 18 inches is the minimum height you would need. Anything that is sold in a six pack is almost surely not going to get tall enough, so you can skip looking through the plants in that section of your nursery.
I just think im going to have trouble with this project till i experiment enough, thank-you for all of your help
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