Ken Brizzi Garden Newsletter - Pruning
Happy New Year, everyone! To help you in your home garden, I’d like to address winter pruning. This includes trees, roses and more.
The reasons to prune are to:
1. Maintain a healthy plant
2. Maximize production of flowers and fruit
3. Reduce overall plant size
4. Correct dangerous growth that is weak and lopsided that could potentially injure a person or property
Common Myths about pruning:
#1 Prune in the winter, only. Winter pruning came about based on the idea that the farmers had “down” time in winter and trees were dormant and less likely to be injured by pruning since the sap was not actively flowing in the canopy. Recent research shows that trees heal faster from light spring through fall pruning and are less likely to get diseased. An advantage for summer pruning of fruit trees is that the wood that is left matures at a younger age resulting in a young tree producing fruit abundantly. I’d like to give a demonstration on Saturday February 6, 2010 at 10:00am American River Community Church Garden corner of Walnut and North, Carmichael, CA. for everyone interested. I’ll show what to prune, how and why. Please confirm your attendance through the "comments" box.
#2 Tar, latex sealers or Elmer’s glue is healthy for fresh pruning cuts. Not necessarily. Unlike a Band-Aid that keeps out germs, sealing a cut limb can actually create a pocket of humidity that can grow bacteria and fungus. This is another advantage of summer pruning- the tree’s sap becomes the Band-Aid. In the case of roses that are susceptible to cane borers, a freshly cut older cane can be an open wound that attracts the female boring insect to lay her eggs at the wound site and then they hatch and bore into the rose cane, killing it. It was thought that sealing the cane tip would prevent cane borers, but this works minimally. If you have had past problems with cane borers, use a daub of glue with an insecticide mixed in.
#3 Prune when transplanting established plants in your yard. The thought behind reducing foliage is that leaves respire and release water to the air. The water has to come from inside the plant, which has just lost part of its root system in the transplanting process and therefore diminished its ability to draw up water from the ground. So to avoid stressing the new transplant, cut back the leaves. Leaves provide shade and nutrients to the plant and can be an advantage to newly transplanted plants. In the winter, on evergreen subtropical plants, the foliage provides several degrees of warmth which protects the small limbs from freezing. So, don’t over-prune the limbs and leaves when transplanting bushes or little trees. The most common cause of death of new transplants is keeping the ground and roots too wet. Without oxygen in the root zone, plants die. Water takes the place of oxygen in a soggy soil. People often water plants thinking they are providing drinks as needed. But we drink more often than plants and our schedule of drinking is way too much for plants. If the idea of how often to water doesn’t make sense to you, you are not alone. Please call or email me. Improper watering is the primary cause of death for plants. I’ll be glad to explain the interaction of water, oxygen, soil types, plant types, season and temperature.
#4 Never prune a plant that is in bloom. Ironically, Camellias are dormant when in bloom and it is an excellent time to prune them. Timing is critical for Azaleas since next spring’s flower buds grow and develop in the preceding summer and fall. A good rule is not to prune Azaleas after July 4th. Exceptions to the Azalea rule are the Encore Azaleas, which can have more than one blooming cycle per year and could benefit from a light pruning after the first crop of spring flowers. Other plants that are confusing for pruning time include Hydrangeas and Spiraeas, both of which require pruning based on the specie, so know your variety before pruning. Timing for them is explained in Sunset’s Western Garden book. Citrus has its own set of preferred pruning techniques and timing. Annual flowers will repeat blooms if the spent blooms are kept pruned off.
I hope this information has given you confidence and helped you think about specific plants you own and how best to prune them. An old time nurseryman once told me to always carry pruning shears every time I go into my garden because there are always old flowers to get rid of and crooked branches to remove. To summarize, prune now to shape plants and get rid of dead and diseased wood and leaves and dangerously precarious branches. Remember that you can always take more wood off this summer, so don’t over prune. Sub tropical plants like citrus need to keep their leaves on top to protect the small branches from freezing weather. But on roses, strip leaves off since they carry disease into the coming spring season. Use dormant oil and dormant spray on deciduous fruit trees, roses and plants that had scale or other insect problems this past summer. Don’t prune plants that will bloom in the spring unless you don’t mind loosing the flowers and fruit that follows. Certain diseases are spread with pruning shears so you must pay attention to what you are pruning. Pyracantha, apples, pears, quince and others of the rose family are susceptible to fire blight and you must dip your shears in isopropyl alcohol or Lysol between every cut. Japanese maples look best when layered. This is also a good time to divide perennials and make more plants for your yard for free.
Timely tips for January: Plant bare root fruit trees now. Also, if you would like to graft several varieties on one tree, now is the time to graft. See me for instructions. You can view varieties and make comparisons at a great web site called www.davewilson.com. This is the largest fruit tree grower in the U.S. and the finest. Their website has photos and descriptions of many varieties. I have grafted 6 apple varieties onto one tree and 4 varieties of Pluots on one tree. By carefully selecting varieties that ripen at different times, I have been able to harvest over several months in a small space. You can, too.
“Healthy Gardening!” Ken Brizzi
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