![]() The necessity for pruning can be reduced or eliminated by selecting the proper plant for the location. Once the objectives are determined and a few basic principles understood, pruning primarily is a matter of common sense. Pruning, which has several definitions, essentially involves removing plant parts to improve the health, landscape effect, or value of the plant. It is done to supply additional energy for the development of flowers, fruits, and limbs that remain on the plant. Remember that pruning is the removal or reduction of certain plant parts that are not required, that are no longer effective, or that are of no use to the plant. More trees are killed or ruined each year from improper pruning than by pests. The old idea that anyone with a chain saw or a pruning saw can be a landscape pruner is far from the truth. Pruning, like any other skill, requires knowing what you are doing to achieve success. All one needs to do to appreciate a plant’s ability to adapt itself to a location is to walk into a wilderness and see the beauty of natural growing plants. In the long run, a plant growing naturally assumes the shape that allows it to make the best use of light in a given location and climate. Often, tender new branches of small plants are broken off by wild animals in their quest for food. Eventually the leaves wither and die and the branch then drops off in a high wind or storm. It may be a simple matter of low branches being shaded by higher ones resulting in the formation of a collar around the base of the branch restricting the flow of moisture and nutrients. In nature, every plant eventually is pruned in some manner. By using improper pruning methods healthy plants are often weakened or deformed. In nature, plants go years with little or no pruning, but man can ruin what nature has created. In most cases, it is better not to prune than to do it incorrectly. Proper pruning enhances the beauty of almost any landscape tree and shrub, while improper pruning can ruin or greatly reduce its landscape potential. Welsh, Professor and Extension HorticulturistĮverett Janne, Extension Landscape Horticulturist (deceased) Keep an eye on for announcements and updates.Īllison Watkins is the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent for horticulture in Tom Green County.Douglas F. Also, don’t miss the annual Concho Valley Master Gardener’s Plant Sale Saturday April 2nd at 8am. Visit for details and to sign up, or call 32. Join us Wednesday, March 23, for a Home Landscaping Seminar focusing on lawn care, tree and shrub planting and care, and landscape plant selection. Aphids are the cause of the stickiness and are fairly easy to control if treated early. If you would like to reduce or prevent the sticky honeydew that drops from landscape trees like pecans and oaks through the summer, apply systemic imidacloprid this spring. Inventory has been spotty for some common landscape plants because of high demand. Purchase them early in the season to get good quality plants, and to have a better chance of getting what you need. Some landscapes are still in need of replacement shrubs after the damage from the 2021 winter storm. Vegetables that can be planted now are cold-tolerant leafy greens and root crops like lettuce, carrots and spinach. To spruce up curb appeal, plant cool-season color like dianthus, Swiss chard, alyssum and stock. It can be stressful for a plant to expend a lot of effort putting on new spring growth, only to have it quickly pruned off. ![]() If evergreen shrubs like hollies and Indian hawthorn need trimming, get it done soon before they put on new growth. If any spring-flowering trees or shrubs need to be pruned, like Texas Mountain Laurel or redbud, prune as soon as they finish blooming. Be careful to not get any overspray on other plants, as the zinc can be damaging to some. Zinc helps leaves expand and grow larger, helping the trees produce a better crop of pecans. Keep an eye on pecan trees, and apply a foliar zinc spray to the leaves as soon as they start to leaf out. Apply pre-emergent to well-established lawns and replenish mulch to a depth of four-inches in beds to reduce weeds in the landscape. Wait until you’ve had to mow twice before fertilizing turfgrass, and for shrubs wait until you see new growth. But there are plenty of early spring tasks that can be done now, even with additional freezing temperatures probable before warm weather sticks for good.ĭon’t fertilize the lawn too soon, the grass won’t be able to use it until it starts new growth. ![]() The weather is always erratic, but seems to be even more so this year, so we can’t predict the last frost of the season. Spring is on the way, and it’s a busy time getting the landscape and garden spruced up for the growing season.
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