• Blog
  • Events
  • Gardening Videos
  • Resources
    • Gardening Guide
    • Online Resources
  • Garden Helpline
    • Collecting Samples of Plants and Insects
  • The Learning Garden
    • Plant of the Month in The Learning Garden
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • The Association
    • Contact Us
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Sponsors
      • Sponsors: 2019 Garden Tour
      • Sponsors: 2019 WNC Gardening Symposium
  • Donate
Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

pruning

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

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

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/

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

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

Pruning: Fruit Trees and Blueberries

February 25, 2019

“How can I get more usable fruit from my home landscape?” When I hear this question, the problem is often that the gardener hasn’t properly pruned their fruit trees or bushes! Thinning early in the season prevents overproduction, which can result in smaller fruit, and increased tree breakage, destructive insects, and disease problems.

Now is the time to prune blueberries, and you can prune apple, pear, and plum trees from now through late March!

Penn-State-Apples-on-Tree-2.0-generic-cc-by-nc-nd-2.0
Apples
NIcePear-Valkyre131-NoDerivs-2.0-Generic-cc-by-nd-2.0
Pears
Plums-Caligula1995-Generic-cc-by-2.0
Plums

General Pruning Recommendations for Fruit Trees

NOTE: As you follow these steps do not remove more than 30 percent of the tree in one season. Regardless of what portion of the tree you prune, do not leave a stub!

  • Remove all broken, damaged, or diseased branches—when cutting back a branch, always cut back to another branch or a bud.
  • Prune out all suckers—suckers are branches that grow straight up.  They may grow from the trunk or branches.
  • Remove any branches that are so low that they interfere with your movement around the tree.
  • If two branches cross and rub against one another, remove one.
  • Thin branches on the interior of the tree. You should be able to throw a softball through the tree without it hitting a branch, limb, or fruiting spur!
  • Later in the season, thin fruit when they are about the size of a nickel. Remove enough fruit so that the remaining ones are spaced about 4 to 6 inches apart along the branch.

General Pruning Recommendations for Blueberries

 We grow two varieties of blueberries in Western North Carolina: Highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum), which grow 6 to 12 feet tall and can produce berries more than 1 inch wide and Rabbiteye (V. ashei or V. virgatum) which can grow up to 15 feet tall!

blueberries!-Juliana-Su-NoDerivs-2.0-Generic-cc-by-2.
Blueberries

According to Bill Cline, Plant Pathology Department, NCSU, for new plantings of Highbush and Rabbiteye:

  • Immediately after planting, always prune or rub off all flowering buds and cut height back ½ to 2/3.
  • In late winter of the second year, remove low-lying or weak shoots and cross-overs, keeping the healthiest, large upright canes. If your plants grew vigorously, allow some flower buds to produce fruit.
  • In late winter of the third year, prune out any weak, damaged, or diseased growth and remove 40 to 50 percent of the flower buds. Begin selecting new basal shoots that will replace older canes.

To achieve maximum yield and sustain the health of your established (> 3 years old) blueberries, Cline recommends the following:

“STEP ONE: Define the crown. Pruning starts at the ground, not at the top of the bush. Visualize a circle 12 to 18 inches in diameter around the crown of the bush, and remove ALL shoots of any age that have emerged from the ground outside the circle.

STEP TWO: Remove low-angled canes and crossovers. Low-angled canes that are too close to the ground are undesirable because the fruit is more likely to contact the ground, or to be contaminated by rain-splashed soil. Remove these low-lying branches, and also any canes that angle through the bush (crossovers).

STEP THREE: Open the center. If needed, remove one to three large canes from the center of the bush to reduce crowding, improve air circulation and phase out older canes. Old canes to target for removal are larger and grayer in color, and are more likely to be covered with a fuzzy growth of foliose lichens.

STEP FOUR: Thinning and heading back. As a blueberry cane ages, it branches repeatedly, resulting in smaller and smaller diameter lateral twigs in successive years. If left unpruned, this results in excessive numbers of unproductive, matchstick-sized shoots, each with a few tiny berries. To avoid reaching this stage, thin canes by making cuts to selectively remove clumps of twiggy, brushy-looking, matchstick-sized laterals. At this time also cut (head back) any long whips or canes that are too tall.”

It may be hard to prune out so many blooms, but you’ll soon see the results are worth it!

Article by Bob Wardwell Buncombe County Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

Training and Pruning Fruit Trees in North Carolina https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/static/publication/js/pdf_js/web/viewer.html?slug=training-and-pruning-fruit-trees-in-north-carolina

Producing Tree Fruit for Home Use

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/producing-tree-fruit-for-home-use

Pruning Blueberries

https://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Pruning-Blueberrries-25JAN14.pdf?fwd=no

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Categories Vegetables & Fruits Tags apples, blueberries, fruit trees, pears, plums, pruning

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 6
  • Next Page »

NC Cooperative Extension; Empowering People, Providing Solutions

Blog posts written and published by Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers in Buncombe County.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,238 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • The Garden Helpline Is OPEN. Master Gardeners Continue to Work Remotely to Answer Your Questions.
  • Gardening Video: Starting Seeds and Growing Transplants Indoors
  • Online Seminar: Gardening in EarthBoxes®, February 27
  • Garden Planning: Think Small!
  • Gardening Video: Winter Sowing

Categories

  • Events
    • Extension in Buncombe County
    • Extension Master Gardener Info Table
    • Gardening Videos
    • Lectures & Seminars
    • School Garden Grants
  • Flowers
    • Bulbs
    • Perennials & Biennials
    • Roses
    • Wildflowers
  • Gardening for Children
  • General Gardening
    • Installation & Planting
    • Mulch
    • Native Plants
    • Propagation
    • Seasonal Chores
    • Soils & Fertilizers
  • Houseplants
  • Landscaping
    • Firewise Landscaping
    • Landscape Design
    • Site Conditions
    • Water Management
  • Lawns
  • Pest Management
    • Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
    • Invasive Plants
    • Pesticides
    • Weeds
  • Plant Diseases
  • Plant Insects
    • Beneficial Insects
    • Insect Pests
    • Invasive Insects
  • Shrubs
  • Special Gardens
    • Container Gardens
    • Herb Gardens
    • Pollinator Gardens
    • Rain Gardens
    • Shade Gardens
  • Trees
  • Vegetables & Fruits
  • Wildlife

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

Events

Keep up with our events by subscribing to the blog or checking our Events Calendar.

Explore the Archives

Back to Top

Copyright © 2021 Extension Master Gardeners of Buncombe County. Privacy Policy.