PERSONALLY, I AM so grateful for the frosty, cold mornings we have had this last week. The frost is exactly what our trees, bushes, shrubs and orchards needed.
With that, let’s continue talking about pruning.
As noted in last Saturday’s column, pruning where space is limited is unfortunately the No. 1 reason people prune (butcher) their plants.
I say unfortunately because, for so many people, that plant overgrowing the driveway, blocking the view, obscuring the window or pressing against the house should never have been planted there to start with.
So as we discuss the No. 2 reason to prune, we must first consider the chainsaw or excavator.
Move it or chop it! When I am called out to someone’s property to consult on pruning, most often, the chainsaw applied at ground level or the excavator with a chain around the bucket is the most efficient and proper response to the overgrown situation. If defending the plant requires constant pruning, move it or chop it down.
That said, pruning where space is limited is a valid reason to prune, and we see it legitimately used in and around our garden. Low branches on a shade tree hitting you in the face as you mow, branches moving back toward the vinyl siding of the house, shearing the hedge so as to allow one to stroll down the sidewalk — these are all valid reasons.
Right plant, right spot.
As to pruning fruit trees in order to pick the fruit from the ground or a low stepladder. So for many reasons, we prune because the right plant in the right spot still needs to be controlled. The secret? Having a plant species or variety that lends itself well to pruning.
Please consider that carefully in your landscape plans. Thinning plants, for most people, if a correct pruning regimen is in place, should actually be the No. 1 or 2 reason to prune most of your plants. As plants grow and you fertilize, prune and lovingly care for them, they grow thick and lush. Too thick and lush, in fact, just needing to be thinned.
Thinning does two crucial and advantageous things. It allows sunlight to penetrate into the deepest interior of the plant and keep the nodes viable for future growth. It ventilates the plant by allowing air to move through the plant. Not only is it dryer, disease and insect problems are drastically reduced. Thinning plants also gives them a more appealing look, whereas thick, tangled branches, old, dead horns and dead debris are removed, giving the plant a light, loose, airy look. By promoting root growth, we get to prune both above and below ground using pruners and a shovel (a trench shovel is preferable). First, let’s deal with the shovel.
One of the best ways to stimulate an old, overgrown, neglected vine, orchard tree or flowering bush is to actually prune the roots, which will encourage a barrage of new root growth. Go out to the plant’s drip line, which is the far exterior foliage line, and, in a continuous cut line, thrust your shovel deeply into the ground — 12 to 18 inches or more (hence the very thin and long-bladed trench shovel). This heading cut on the roots will stimulate abundant new root growth, which will result in new fruit and flower production. Old vines, such as wisteria or old lilac, along with apple trees, really respond to this type of pruning. But at the same time, fast and aggressive growing vines, like clematis, need to be pruned severely after the first year to a height of 12 to 18 inches. The reason is to knock down the growth so that the network of roots can catch up and grow in order to support a healthy, lush plant. The same can be said for fruit trees. The first year at planting, roughly one-third (no more) should be pruned away to not only set your desired leader type, but the framework of the plant itself. And just as importantly, pruning allows the roots to establish and grow in order to support a viable tree.
All right, more about pruning next Saturday. So until then, stay warm and stay well!
________
Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
