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Garden Gate:  Fall Pruning reminders!  |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 21 2005 : 8:05:19 PM
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If the heat ever subsides I know that all of us will be gripped with the urge to tidy our gardens before winter sets in. Just a quick reminder:
As a general rule, if your woody and semi woody shrubs bloom in the Spring, DO NOT prune them in the fall. You will be removing the part of the plant that puts forth the new growth/ buds for the spring. It is best to prune almost anything immediately after it has finished bloooming. There are exceptions to every rule but they are few and far between when it comes to Spring blooming shrubs!Happy Gardening !
with a happy heart |
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Fabulous Farm Femmes
True Blue Farmgirl
792 Posts
Diane
Lakebay, Tacoma
WA
792 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2005 : 1:12:43 PM
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| Hoa about tips for pruning my Buddelia? It just finished blooming, and the last time the DH pruned it, he cut it back almost to the ground (i yelled at him) and now it seems to be very leggy on just one side and flops way over on top of the beds it sits behind. do they like hard pruning, no pruning or? The ones that are growing wild on the side of the freeway here look better than mine! |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2005 : 7:27:38 PM
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I can only speak for my buddleia and my zone but I don't prune after it's done but leave the flower clusters as is for the birds during the winter. They use the dense branching for cover and must be eating the seeds. They usually look pretty ugly at that point but I just give the plant an overall shape up in very early Spring (before the forsythia bloom). Have never pruned them as hard as yours was , but saw the same results when I overpruned one fall. They only bloom on new growth and it is hard to get a balance with the old woody growth that you can't completely get rid of!
We also have butterflies until mid -late October so I never want to disturb their feast as we continue to bloom until the first hard frost. They are very easy to root if you want to start a new plant
to replace the old one, or add to the "collection"! You know how fast they grow!
with a happy heart |
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2005 : 07:48:50 AM
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I don't know names real well are buddelias same like butterfly bushes? What I think is a butterfly bush has lilac flowers? I cut them for a heavenly scent inside. We did the heavy prune like back to a foot but she grows back to 12'.
Bramble,
Like your name.What color bramble are you? We got black growing on our canals. I've been reading your writing and learning. A orchid friend has talked to me about doing the master gardener program at our liberry. Do they have them up by you? Do you know what about them?
I was looking for shearing stuff on my fruit trees and found this
http://www.plantamnesty.org/pruning_gallery/thumbs/bad_pruning_thumbs.htm
isn't it a hoot? |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2005 : 08:29:10 AM
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| I'm outside Chicago -- zone 5 -- right now, I'm pruning off only the spent flower panicles, which seems to encourage more flower heads. I leave the entire thing standing for winter -- the birds do eat the seeds. Then, in early spring, I prune it back to about 8"-12", because the top is not dependably winter-hardy here. But the new growth is vigorous - my white buddleia is about 8 feet tall right now and glorious! If you prune the entire shrub equally, you should not have a problem with uneven or lanky growth -- except if one part gets more sun. Good luck with your buddleia -- as Ellen ByHzGrace says, the scent is heavenly! |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2005 : 3:25:29 PM
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Hi Ellen and Katie -El, Haven't had alot of time to say welcome to MJF so I will now! Yes, Ellen your buddleia (butterfly bush) is what you are cutting, is it covered right now, mine is with lavender flowers but I'm on the hunt for a white and a pink. I want to see which plant attracts more butterflies as I am ever curious about those things! We have a great Master Gardener program here run out of Rutgers University and our Extension Service and I hear excellent things about the program. Give it a try if you've got the time. As for what color bramble am I, hmmm... well I guess I am red since that is my hair color! And I love raspberries more than any other berry !
with a happy heart |
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CityCat
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Catherine
Toronto
Ontario
Canada
198 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2005 : 5:34:49 PM
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| A pruning question: Should I prune my mulberry now, or wait until spring? It really needed pruning this year, but I wasn't up to that mammoth task. Now, it really has to be done! Oh, and how much should I prune? |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 9:40:47 PM
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How do I root from a buddelia (sp?)? I have one growing in my front "bed" which is in terrible shape and I plan to dig it all up next spring and start it over with more low maintenance, balanced plantings as I hate working out in front of the house. I guess because I am naturally an introvert and working in the front yard seems to be an invitation for random, uninvited guests who want to chat with me and then I don't get all my work done. I love the buddelia and want to plant it where it will get more sun and just do better in general.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain
http://ljrenterprises.blogspot.com/ |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Sep 05 2005 : 06:23:44 AM
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| Laura, instead of trying to take a cutting from the buddleia, I would just leave it where it is for the rest of this year. (I'm in Illinois; similar gardening conditions to you, I think. Our winters are too harsh to chance transplanting buddleia in the fall.) Come spring, prepare a sunny area for it in the back, then dig it up with a good-sized root ball and get it into the new spot immediately and water it well. (You can also prune it back to 6-8" in the spring, which will make the transplanting easier. If you want to prune it back before spring, wait until it is completely dormant -- probably mid-December.) Be sure to water it frequently as it gets reestablished. Good luck with your new front garden, too! |
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Sep 05 2005 : 06:55:55 AM
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Hi Bramble!
Thank you for the welcome. Is it the color or the fragrance that draws butterflies? I have a bunch on swamp milkweed and they are purple too?
My PopPop taught at Rutgers. Brown Swiss dairy farming. Are you from NJ near there? |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Sep 06 2005 : 08:14:07 AM
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HI Ellen-- Small world , huh? Rutgers is about an hour north of here but all our 4-H state programs , etc were held there so I spent alot of time up there as a kid. I went to college in PA so probably didn't know your Pop Pop.Where did he live?
I think the butterflies like the nectar, that's why they pick those types of plants, good question though; I never really thought about what senses butterflies utilize, now I'll have to find out! Don't know if it's color because they are also drawn to Asclepia tuberosa an(butterfly flower) and that is an orange /red. Think it has more to do with flower structure and nectar availability.
I wonder if all the hurricane has wrought will affect the migratory pattern for the Monarchs?
with a happy heart |
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Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - Sep 06 2005 : 09:47:54 AM
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Are the monarchs migrating now? One year when we were driving to visit our daughter in Wisconsin we caught the migration of the monarchs on our trip. They love the goldenrod and it grows wild all over Wisconsin. It was a sight to see! Maybe we will be lucky enough this year to get in on the migration again this week.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
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WisGal35
True Blue Farmgirl
99 Posts
Cathy
Kenosha County
WI
USA
99 Posts |
Posted - Sep 06 2005 : 2:54:27 PM
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I'm in SE Wisconsin, and have noticed a few Monarchs visiting in recent days ... we have lots of goldenrod and other wildflowers in our 'prairie landscaping' on a few acres that will someday get a fence.
Anybody know about pruning very tall, very old apple trees? The former ownner told me they were crab apples, but the neighbors recently told me they are apples trees left over from an orchard people had here 40 years ago. I don't want to kill them off... |
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Mari-dahlia
True Blue Farmgirl
269 Posts
Marianne
Hoosick Falls
New York
USA
269 Posts |
Posted - Sep 06 2005 : 5:31:23 PM
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Bramble,
I too have red hair and I tend to acquire red haired animals. I have a red headed scottish highland cow , rhode island red chickens and I am looking for a heritage breed of pigs that also have red hair. I didn't even realize I was doing it until someone pointed it out to me.
Marianne |
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CityCat
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Catherine
Toronto
Ontario
Canada
198 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2005 : 11:02:10 PM
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| Butterflies can see colour and they also see in the ultraviolet range. To some insects, flowers look like landing pads pointing toward the middle of the flower. Butterflies will see something that looks inviting, particularly flowers with bright colours. I was at a butterfly conservatory once and watched one lady mobbed by butterflies. She was wearing a shirt with red hibiscus flowers on it. Insects in general are attracted to the colours yellow and white. Once a butterfly has selected a flower, it has taste sensors in its feet, and if its to its liking, the proboscis is unfurled, and the drinking begins. |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2005 : 04:10:10 AM
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| Hi Cathy -- Apple trees should be pruned in late winter/early spring when fully dormant. (Dead wood can be cut out at any time.) Check your library for books on pruning -- one good book is Pruning Simplified. Or check with your university extension service about getting booklets on fruit tree pruning. Old apple trees have such character. My grandpa had a wonderful apple orchard right between our house and theirs -- Transparents, Crabapple (the hard little apples to make jelly from), Northern Spy, Jonathan, Snowapple (my favorite! snow-white flesh). So many wonderful, yummy memories. |
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 05:04:01 AM
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Hi Bramble!
My Pop-Pop lived in NewsBrunswick while he worked for Rutgers. Our family farm was sucked in by Fort Dix. I have red haired cousins with a farm outside Pemberton. I miss the Pineys!
How high do butterflies that migrate fly?
Aren't apple trees at about their life's yield existence at 40years? |
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WisGal35
True Blue Farmgirl
99 Posts
Cathy
Kenosha County
WI
USA
99 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 09:12:51 AM
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Thanks for tips on apple trees ladies... I'll get in touch with extension agent & see what I can find out.
These apple trees sure aren't at their life's yield -- they get tons of apples, which currently fall all over the ground & I feed to the goats. The blooms look & smell great in the spring.
The trees are taller than my two-story farmhouse...so is the lilac 'bush' haha. Apparently the folks who have lived here over the years have not been into pruning. |
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danelle
Farmgirl at Heart
7 Posts
Danelle
Delafield
WI
USA
7 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2005 : 6:46:47 PM
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| I have a question about shrub roses, can you prune them back and if so when and how? I have one that has grown way too big for the space it is in, but I love it where it is and just want to keep it from covering the entire sidewalk. |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2005 : 7:13:02 PM
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| I'm in northern Illinois -- probably the same zone as you are in. The ideal time to prune shrub roses is when they are just emerging from dormancy in the early spring. That way, you can see how much winter damage has been done and also shape the shrub all over and back off the sidewalk. If the canes are intruding too much on the sidewalk, you could do some judicious pruning in late autumn/early winter so your passage over the winter will be safer. Don't do it right now, because you don't want a fresh flush of growth just as the rose will be going dormant. After pruning in the spring, give it some fertilizer/manure/epsom salts. Don't fertilize in late summer or after. What kind of shrub rose do you have? I have Lovely Fairy (deep rose) and Fairy Princess (red) blooming together right now. Such a treat, with the buddleia, catmint, and some tall fall daisies all in bloom together. |
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danelle
Farmgirl at Heart
7 Posts
Danelle
Delafield
WI
USA
7 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2005 : 7:21:25 PM
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Thanks Katie-ell -
I will save your advice for Spring. I believe that it is a Rose of Sharon (it came with the house). It did not get many blooms this year, but we were under construction last year and I had to move it mid-summer in order to save it. I think it is still settling into its new home. It is right off my front patio so I get to see it everytime I walk out of the house and couldn't bare to move it again for fear it would die. |
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blanket of stars
True Blue Farmgirl
51 Posts
Kat
Hancock
NH
51 Posts |
Posted - Sep 14 2005 : 3:06:47 PM
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| Whew! Thank you Bramble for your pruning memo - which I read just BEFORE I went out to prune a very scraggly looking mock orange. |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Sep 14 2005 : 6:44:55 PM
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| Oh, Danelle, if you have a Rose of Sharon, that's a very different plant from a shrub rose. Rose of Sharon is a tall vase-shaped shrub with woody bark. You can prune it in the late winter/early spring; flowers develop on the new growth. I thought you were referring to shrub roses -- i.e. roses with thorns! Hope this helps. |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Sep 15 2005 : 8:27:11 PM
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Your welcome, Blanket of Stars!If it's really sad give it a little trim so there is less to sustain through the winter. Mock orange smell so nice when they are in bloom, hope you get some next year!
Danelle-Rose of Sharon is actually a hardy form of Hibiscus and they are blooming all over the place here just now.My Mom used to plant these as a hedge and would cut them down almost to the groound every year but when we gained less desirable neighbors she stopped cutting them back so hard and they still did well. I prune my Fairy roses some now after the first hard frost and a better one in the spring and it seems to keep the winter kill to a minimum because they are sturdier plants and not so rangey and floppy.
Katie-ell- The world just gets smaller and smaller! I was in Wharton State Forest all weekend (canoe/camping) and on our way home came through Pemberton due to a wrong turn. My best friend growing up has migrated to Chatsworth. Her home is in the pines but if you walk through her back woods a short distance you end up at a cranberry bog. Talk about ecological diversity! There is no place like the Pine Barrens!
CityCat- Good to have you here! I only took 2 entomology courses in college and they weren't my favorite so I will leave the "buggy stuff" to you! I did once work in a biological control bug lab and had to vacuum wax moths off the ceiling or we weren't allowed to leave the building for fear of them escaping!
with a happy heart |
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CityCat
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Catherine
Toronto
Ontario
Canada
198 Posts |
Posted - Sep 15 2005 : 9:53:29 PM
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I found the following information from this website:
http://www.monarchwatch.org/
How high can a Monarch fly?
"Monarchs have been reported by glider pilots at 1250 meters (4062 feet - that's about 3/4 of a mile above the earth's surface!). And, commercial and military pilots have seen Monarchs at 3000-4000 meters over midwestern states in September. How do they get this high? They probably take advantage of bubbles (or columns) of warm air (thermals) just as birds do (e.g. hawks, eagles, vultures). If you watch migrating Monarchs in the fall, you can often see them shift from directional flight to one in which they circle, usually with the wings set in a fixed position. With each circle they rise and soar in a pattern which we usually associate with hawks.. At the top of the bubble or thermal they resume their directional flight. This behavior is most easily observed in the morning when wind speeds are low. Winds tend to break up the weaker thermals and displace the butterflies so the Monarchs probably only reach high altitudes under very special conditions."
Hoped that helped.
Cat |
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verbina
True Blue Farmgirl
231 Posts
randi
n.j
USA
231 Posts |
Posted - Sep 16 2005 : 10:26:25 AM
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| thanks cat,thats a great web sight.i planted milk thistle and swamp weed this year for them and they loved it. hey bramble i agree, aint nothing like the pine barrens. randi from jersey |
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Garden Gate: Fall Pruning reminders! |
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Fall Pruning reminders!
