A standard is a plant, usually a woody shrub, with a tree-like form. Sometimes referred to as balls-on-sticks, standards contain a single, straight trunk devoid of any foliage topped by a round or weeping mass of foliage. Standards grown in pots make excellent accent plants on a deck, patio or porch. Examples of plants suitable for standard training include gardenia, rose, fuchsia, rosemary, oleander, boxwood and weeping fig. Training your own plant into a standard is less expensive than purchasing a ready-formed standard.
Select a young, healthy plant with a height of 10 inches or less and a single straight stem, if possible. Repot the plant into a container that is 2 inches larger than its current pot and contains bottom drainage holes. Fill the new pot one quarter full of potting soil. Slide the plant gently from its pot. Massage the bottom of the root ball carefully to spread the roots outward. Place the plant in the center of the new pot. Add potting soil to the new container, tamping it down firmly around the root ball. Leave a 1-inch space between the soil's surface and the lip of the pot.
Water the plant thoroughly with a garden hose. Insert a thin bamboo stake into the root ball, as close to the main stem as possible. Tie the main stem of the plant to the stake every 3 to 4 inches using cloth ties. Fasten the ties loosely enough to allow a one-half to 1-inch space between the stake and the stem.
Pinch or clip off any shoots emerging from the bottom or sides of the plant's stem using a pair of pruning shears. Allow any leaves growing directly from the stem to remain, as they will provide nutrients to the growing plant.
Water the plant when the top inch of soil begins to dry. Apply a water-soluble fertilizer at a rate of one-half teaspoon per gallon of water every two weeks. Allow the plant to grow taller, attaching the new portion of stem to the stake with ties in the same manner as before. Replace the stake with a taller one if needed to support the plant's height. Watch for side and bottom shoots emerging from the main stem and remove them as soon as possible.
Pinch off the terminal or end bud from the main stem once the plant reaches the desired height. Allow the plant to produce side shoots on the top one-third of the main stem, but continue removing new shoots from the bottom two-thirds of the stem.
Clip off the tips of the side shoots growing on the top one-third of the plant once the shoots reach 1 to 2 inches in length. Make the cut just above the set of leaves below the tip.
Allow the new growth to reach 1 inch before pinching the new terminal buds or ends off. Repeat this process to produce a thick, ball-shaped growth of branches on the top of the plant's stem. Continue removing any shoots that start to form on the lower two-thirds of the plant.
Remove the leaves growing along the bottom two-thirds of the stem once a thick head of foliage and stems have developed. Prune the branches back in the top third of the plant to keep the growth in a ball-like or umbrella-like shape. Periodically prune away any shoots or leaves sprouting from the lower two-thirds of the plant's stem to keep it bare and give the standard a clean look.
Things You Will Need
- Potting soil
- Watering can
- Bamboo stake
- Cloth ties
- Pruning shears
- Water-soluble fertilizer
- Repot the standard into a new container that is 2 inches larger than the current container each time the plant becomes root bound.
- The Complete Burke's Backyard: The Ultimate Book of Fact Sheets; Don Burke
- Garden Wisdom and Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Plant, Grow, and Harvest; Editors of Rodale Books et al.
- Topiary And The Art Of Training Plants; David Joyce
- Polka Dot Images/Polka Dot/Getty Images