Tag: mahonia

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It’s time to prune shrubs and trees

Winters a few years ago were unseasonably warm, and on this blog I wrote, then, about flowers that were beginning to bud and to blossom out of season.  I was afraid that frost would come while they were in a vulnerable state and kill them.  All my plants are convinced that they should
remain dormant this winter, and I see no buds on plants that should be enjoying a winter rest.

Although I left this descendent of the  ‘Mahonia’ that my great aunt brought my grandmother from Oregon, and which my grandmother gave me when she dug it from the woods at her house at my old home when I sold it, I imagine it does have buds.  It is supposed to have buds this time of year, and honeybees visit the buds on warm days when it blooms in February. 

January and early February are a good time to prune trees and shrubs that do not bloom in the
spring.  Shrubs are dormant now, and although pruning spurs new growth in the warm months, it will not cause new growth during the winter.

On any shrub or tree, at any time of the year, remove dead, diseased, or broken branches.  To determine whether branches on deciduous trees or shrubs are dead or just dormant, bend the branch gently.  If the branch is pliable, it is alive and if it snaps, it is dead.  If the branch is too large to bend, scratch the bark with a fingernail; a live branch is green inside and a dead branch is gray or brown.

A favorite activity of landscapers this time of year is mauling crape myrtle trees and pruning otherwise naturally shaped shrubs into cubes.  People cut off the top branches of crape myrtle trees very short, so that the trees look like a slender pincushion with pins protruding off the top instead of enjoying the graceful, natural form of the tree.  

I pruned the crape myrtle tree at my own home by pruning out, to the junction with the branch, any crossing or dead branches, displaying the natural form of the tree.  Even without any foliage or flowers, it’s beautiful.

Below are examples of ‘Crape murder.’  Some hapless parking lot landscaper pruned off the top of these trees, causing them to sprout up many small branches because someone told him or her that pruning the tree this way would cause the tree to make more flowers.  More flowers will form, but I find that my tree gives me plenty of flowers anyway, and it isn’t heinous the rest of the year, either.

 

“Prune after bloom” is a good rule of thumb, so do not prune forsythia, hydrangeas, azaleas, and camellias, among other spring-blooming shrubs, until after they bloom.  If you prune them before they bloom, you will cut of the flower buds and will have to wait until next year for blossoms. 

Use hedge trimmers to shape boxwoods and hollies into squared-off shapes, if you
prefer it, but please do not prune azaleas, camellias, forsythia, loropetalum, and other shrubs with graceful, flowing branches into little squares or balls.  Flowering shrubs are much more
attractive, and easier to maintain, if you allow them to maintain their natural form. Reduce size by cutting off entire branches with loppers, not by giving them a haircut with hedge trimmers. 

If you must prune shrubs several times a year to keep them under control, the repeated chore is a sign that you have a shrub in the wrong place.  It may be too big for its spot, or it may have an unruly nature in a place where you would like a neat shrub.  Perhaps both you and the shrub would be happier if you removed it and put something more appropriate to the space in
its place.  

I butchered this loropetalum, above, because it was about to extend into my driveway.  Although I paid extra money for the dwarf version of the shrub, no one told the shrub it was supposed to stay small.  I eventually dug up this shrub and replaced it with another shrub of an appropriate size.

At my new home, I chose shrubs that are slow-growing, unlike loropetalum, that will remain at the correct size.   I also gave them plenty of room in which to grow.  The landscape around the new house looks sparse now, but in ten years I hope I will only need to give the shrubs a haircut occasionally.
Head out to the garden and prune your shrubs and refresh your mulch while the snakes, chiggers, and mosquitoes are dormant.  Isn’t working outside more pleasant in January than in June?
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Color and Blooms in My January Garden


Don’t hate me because I live in South Carolina.  The temperature was 70 degrees yesterday, and I opened the windows to let in the warm January air.  This winter has been unusually mild, but even in colder winters, something blooms or provides interesting foliage every day of the year in my garden.  Take advantage of late winter days to put some plants in your garden for blooms next winter. 

Hellebore blooms in the January garden

Golden Threadleaf Falsecypress

I have admired Golden Threadleaf Falsecypress shrubs for awhile, because they provide a hard-to-find chartreuse color in the garden. They are expensive, but I found one on sale this fall, and I love the constant color and texture.
Winter Jasmine

Winter Jasmine, or Jasminum nudiflorum, has been blooming since before Christmas. Temperatures in the twenties or teens may damage the blooms, but more will soon appear to replace them. It spreads by inserting the tips of its branches into the soil and forming roots, and it’s something to keep an eye on in the garden so it doesn’t take over. I have kept it under control by cutting it back in the late fall and pulling up any babies that rooted. Find a friend with one and they will give you baby plants.  Winter jasmine reminds me of forsythia, but it blooms earlier than forsythia, which usually saves its blooms for late February.
Scabiosa ‘Butterfly Blue’

I have been pleasantly surprised by the Scabiosa ‘Butterfly Blue.’ Not only does it bloom most of the summer, perhaps taking a small break during the hottest months, but it also continues blooming throughout the winter. It might stop for a little while during weather in the teens, but our weather this winter in the twenties have not bothered it. It only asks to be deadheaded every few weeks so it doesn’t become confused and think its work is finished for the year. Like all the previously discussed plants, it likes full sun.
Every year I plant daffodils for spring color.  These are the earliest ones.
Pansies live through our winters, and although they may become tattered from cold weather,  after I trim them and fertilize them, they bloom until hot weather kills them.
Mahonia

Thirty years ago my great aunt Minnie brought the great-grandparents of this Mahonia, or Oregon Grape, to my grandmother from her home in Oregon. It was happy in the woods of northwestern South Carolina, and had so many babies, propagated by seed, that everyone in the family and many neighbors have them.  They are not invasive, though; they reproduce slowly and surprise the gardener with an occasional new shrub.  My grandmother helped me dig this shrub from her woods before she died several years ago, and every time I see it I think of her. It is native to Oregon, and it likes moist soil and shade; don’t plant it in the full sun in South Carolina. The thorny leaves keep the deer from munching on it, usually. It’s not quite in bloom yet, but the buds are ready to burst, and I know spring is arriving in my garden when I hear a bee buzzing and find honeybees enjoying the Mahonia’s nectar on a warm winter day.