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pruning

Working with Roses: There’s a Rhythm to It!

April 21, 2021

Early Spring in TLG-Rose Garden 2021

When most gardeners are impatiently waiting for the average last frost date, rose gardeners at the Learning Garden (TLG) are starting their annual chores. Roses require the most attention from mid- to late February through April, making the ‘rhythm’ of working with them different from gardening with other plants.

Early season rose garden activities:

  1. We prune our roses when they begin to show signs of new growth—typically when the forsythia blooms. Remove any dead, damaged, or crossing canes; clear out the centers for good air circulation; and cut most roses back by about one third. Check out the short video on Early Spring Pruning of Roses at the end of this post.
  2. Next, we clear debris from beneath the plants and weed the beds.
  3. We transplant any roses that need moving so that they will “wake up” in their new homes.
  4. We also plant new roses from late March to mid- April.
  5. In mid-April we fertilize our roses. In the Learning Rose Garden, we use a slow-acting, organic fertilizer that can take weeks to become available to the roses. We sometimes supplement this first feeding with a liquid or faster-acting fertilizer to give the roses a quick boost.
  6. If you choose to use fungicides to prevent black spot from establishing in your garden, it is important to start early! We start spraying fungicides in April.

Watering is important!
During these spring months, we make sure our roses get enough water.  Adequate water is necessary for new and transplanted roses, as well as for soaking in fertilizer.  April showers are a definite plus in a rose garden! For maximum sustained growth, roses require at least one inch of water per week.

TLG-Rose Garden in bloom, 2020

The payoff?
By May, when other gardeners are busy, we are keeping our eyes on the rain gauge and watching the roses beginning to bloom!

 

 

Article by Judy Deutsch, Buncombe County Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer and Certified Consulting Rosarian

For more information:
Check out this video on this site: Great Roses for Western North Carolina
Here is a short video on Early Spring Pruning of Roses by the University of Maryland.

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Categories Roses Tags pruning, roses

Timely Tasks: Prune Spring-Blooming Shrubs

June 8, 2020

Mapleleaf Viburnum_Dan Mullen_CC BY-NC-NC 2.0_Flickr
Mapleleaf viburnum

Our spring-blooming shrubs have been glorious this year—flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa), Forsythia, Fothergilla, some hydrangeas (Hydrangea spp.), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), mock orange (Philadelphus x virginalis), azaleas and rhododendrons (Rhododendron spp.), lilacs (Syringa vulgaris), many Viburnum species, and Weigela are in this category. As their blooms start to fade, plan now to prune these shrubs for next year’s bloom!

Flame Azalea
Flame Azalea
Rosebay Rhododendron_Jim Dollar_CC BY-NC 2.0_Flickr
Rosebay rhododendron

Pruning time matters
Look at your shrubs while the blooms are fading to decide where you need to prune. If your shrubs didn’t look glorious this year—or you had no blooms at all—pruning might be the culprit! Timing is critical, especially for pruning spring-blooming shrubs that develop their flower buds during the summer and fall of the previous year. This is often called “blooming on old wood.”
By mid-June, spring-blooming flowers will likely be gone, and your deadline is approaching to prune. Plan to finish pruning these shrubs soon after flowering—no later than the 4th of July. Pruning in late summer, fall, winter, or early spring will remove the buds getting ready for next year’s show!

Oakleaf_Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen'_Plant Image Library_CC BY-SA 2.0_Flickr
Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snow Queen.’ Oakleaf Hydrangeas bloom on old wood; if they need pruning, prune right after the blooms fade.

How to prune
The North Carolina State University Extension has recently updated their series of publications on pruning (see links, below). “Before the Cut” introduces you to information on how to prune to open up the top of the plant to permit light and air to reach the interior, to promote new plant growth, maintain plant size, encourage flowering, remove diseased or dead limbs, and help control insect and disease problems.
When thinking about pruning, consider the “one-third” rules: remove about one-third of the oldest wood at the ground level and cut back one-third of the younger, newer canes about one-third of their height per season.
Spring-flowering shrubs.
The section of “Before the Cut” on “Plants that Flower on Year-Old Growth” is most relevant to pruning spring-flowering shrubs. The publication on “Pruning Specific Plants” provides more details on each individual shrub species.

Everything else!
North Carolina State Extension: “General Pruning Techniques,” which provides information on timing of pruning, pruning methods, maintaining shrubs, and specialty pruning.

Pruning woody ornamental shrubs_heading cuts_NCSU Extension
Heading cuts: A) shrub shoots headed back to same height; B) shrub shoots headed back to different heights.

Pruning methods discussed include size reduction:
• Heading back, the removal of one-year-old shoots recommended for plants that have outgrown their allotted space, and
• Reduction cuts used to train trees and shrubs and to control the direction of growth, among other purposes.

There is extensive information on cutting both small and large branches—with details about the proper placement of cuts, the guidance to “not leave a stub” following pruning, and the admonition to “never apply wound paint or tar” to the cut.
The section on maintaining shrubs provides guidance on the management of growth in deciduous, broadleaved evergreens, and needled evergreens, including the appropriate time of year to prune each in order to achieve maximum benefit in your landscape is provided.
The section on specialty pruning describes a number of techniques not commonly seen in most home landscapes. These include espalier, pleaching, pollarding, and topiary.
Article written by Extension Master Gardener Volunteers.
For more information:
Before the cut:https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/before-the-cut
How to prune specific plants: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/how-to-prune-specific-plants
General Pruning Techniques: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/general-pruning-techniques

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Categories General Gardening Tags espalier, pollarding, pruning, Spring flowering shrubs, spring pruning, topiary

What NOT to Do in the Garden

November 22, 2019

Frost has left your yard looking kind of dead. You hear the neighbors blowing leaves and see them busily tidying up—you feel guilty that you’re going out for a hike or sitting inside dreaming of next spring rather than doing yardwork. But you may be doing your landscape a favor by doing less!

Leaves that need to be raked, bagged or not ?

What to do with leaves?
Do you really need to rake up and dispose of leaves?
Leave them! In many cases, you can simply leave them where they fall: in wooded areas, under trees or shrubs, on your vegetable garden, flower beds—in fact, almost anywhere but a lawn, leaves can act as a mulch and eventual soil enrichment.
• Move them where needed. If the leaves are constantly blowing back onto your lawn, or are matting and smothering groundcovers or small plants, move them to other areas where they can break down in peace.
• Shred them with a shredder or lawn mower. Shredding will help leaves stay in place and break down more quickly. Using a mulching mower on your lawn before leaves get too deep will save you from raking there, too.
• The bottom line: If you must rake, save your leaves in a compost pile or in an unobtrusive area of your yard to spread back on your planting beds once they break down.

What about leaf blowers?
If you must move leaves around, consider that these concerns—Electric or gas blowers may:
• Harm beneficial insects, small animals and their habitats
• Damage plants and shrubs
• Create noise and air pollution.

What about pruning?
With the exception of diseased or damaged wood, leave pruning shrubs and trees until late winter—or immediately after bloom in the case of trees and shrubs that bloom on “old” wood.

Evening primrose_Oenothera biennis_seed pods_Andreas Rockstein_CC BY-SA 2.0_Flickr
Consider leaving seed heads for awhile.

What about annual and perennial plants?
Although you may be tempted to cut everything back in the interest of neatness, consider leaving dried seed heads for winter interest, self-sowing, and feeding the birds—at least until the seeds are gone or stems start to break down. One exception, of course, is if plants seed so aggressively that they become nuisances. Consider removing such plants and replacing them with more desirable alternatives.

Enjoy your break from yardwork!
Take time to reflect on what is working well in your garden and what needs rethinking. How does your yard look at this time of year? Does it have good “bones” that make it attractive in all four seasons, or do you need to consider adding some new plants that look good in fall or winter? Do you need to remove failing or overgrown trees or shrubs? Is there too much lawn? You still have time to plant this fall—until the ground is frozen—or start planning for next year!

Take time to evaluate your landscape.

Article by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

For more information about fall planting:

https://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/2017/09/fall-is-the-best-time-to-plant-trees-and-shrubs/

 

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Categories General Gardening Tags compost, fall garden chores, freeze, mulch, pruning, winter garden chores

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